YuGiOh!: Future History
by MarkMachine
Summary: Saving the world through a card game and Egyptian relics was easy in the show. When a real boy has to do it in real life, it's anything but the cakewalk Yugi made it to be.
1. The Beginning of History

_Author's Note: I feel that I should explain my story before you get into it. This story takes place outside of the Yu-Gi-Oh! continuity. It's as we see it now, like we call the game Yu-Gi-Oh! or the TCG or what have you. Yugi, Joey/Jonouchi, Tea/Anzu and the like are just characters in the anime. Though there will be one exception._

_Now as far as the card playing goes, I want to fully explain it here. I play with duel's consisting of 4000 Life Points, instead of 8000. The characters must make sacrifices for monsters like usual. When I play Fusion Monsters though, I play with the real rules and as such, they can attack in the turn they're summoned if a duelist wants. The one major thing I play with is that I allow my characters to use Normal Spell Cards as a Spell Speed 2, an anime 'ruling'. Meaning, they can use them on an opponents turn. I limit myself to not using cheap cards on an opponents turn like a Dark Hole or something. I also allow them to play monsters face up in defense mode if they wish._

_So people don't become confused, when I have a character set a monster face down, I'll use the term 'Reverse Monster' or set a spell/trap card face down, I'll use the term 'Reverse Card'. So I could say…"I'll set the reverse monster, then set three reverse cards."_

_That should cover it. I hope you enjoy my story._

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning of History**

Normally, Saturday mornings for young kids consist of watching their favorite Saturday morning cartoons, chatting with friends and doing all the things you wanted to Sunday through Friday. But for a select group of kids, Saturday is about jumping on their bikes, catching the bus, walking or whatever mode of transportation and going to their local card shop called Rolling Stock, run by a guy named RJ, for some fun with their friends playing Yu-Gi-Oh, a game developed from the highly successful manga and animated series. But these young players forgo sleep and TV watching to go to a tournament held every Saturday morning but this tournament today holds special significance.

Today, instead of the usual tournament setting, there were many more players playing seriously for today's prize. But before we go into that, we have to take some time to look back to a few months earlier.

Due to the success of the animated series, Hollywood producers decided to try to make a movie to capitalize on Yu-Gi-Oh. It was a live action/animated picture that did not do well with people outside of the game and the series. It included a lot of Hollywood type of ideas and a lot to do with the card game, which incidentally offered new cards to the game exclusive to the English card game, but the movie did not do well with people outside of people knowledgeable with the anime/manga/card game. Recently, the studio that did the movie put out old props for auction, which included a one-of-a-kind gold-plated Millennium Puzzle that actually was in individual pieces. Through a friend or two, the owner of Rolling Stock got his hands on this piece and decided to use it to bring in new customers. When he received it, he placed it in a glass holder and let the kids that usually come through the store look at it and wonder how they can get their own. This got RJ thinking into using it as a prize for his tournaments and that's where we are today.

The store floor is rather spacious for a card shop but when the tournaments come on Saturday's, the place seems rather small. Nearly every kid that saw the movie and played the game was here, really excited and ready to duel. But those were the little kids who didn't know much about the game and were usually did not make it very far into the tournament brackets. There was another group of kids that found themselves most usually in the finals of the tournament. These were the 'veteran' players of the tournament that played the game for a long time, some even had experience in the Japanese card game. Out of the veterans, there were a few people that you usually expected to win the tournament.

Enter Jamie Cantou, Catravious Collins and Terry Hairston, the three duelists of this tournament that usually walked away from here as the weekly tournament champion. The three of them knew each other and they were fully aware that they would be seeing each other in the late rounds of the tournament but today, instead of the usual joking that they do, they were in a more serious mode.

Catravious Collins, for one, was standing by the counter of the card shop just looking through the glass panels that showcased single cards for sale. He was looking at the cards but his mind was elsewhere. Catravious, 16 years old, was a kid that loved to just be around other people having fun and to do whatever came to mind at the time. Too many times that attitude got him in some problems, but nothing really serious. His natural intelligence made up for this recklessness, which made him a shoe-in for honor roll in school for 5 straight years. He also knows about the Japanese card game of Yu-Gi-Oh and works with RJ on some of the Japanese cards that he has. It's how he got the nickname 'Knowledge' from everyone. He patted his pocket where his deck was sitting and just kept thinking to himself when he caught Jamie looking his way.

Jamie Cantou was a older duelist than the norm. He was 21 years old playing in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh, which would have bothered some people, but not him. He played mostly for fun but mainly for collecting. He loved to collect things and cards were right up his alley. He had a wall in his room removed and replaced with a slanted glass card holder where he held some of his favorite cards. Since the inception of Yu-Gi-Oh, he became interested in this card game as well and has a very sizable collection. But despite his resources, he doesn't know as much about actually playing the game. He is a decent player that usually does well but the lack of knowledge in the game hurts him sometimes.

He was standing in the shop eyeing some of the cards in the case that he would have liked to grab but RJ was not selling cards today. Never a good idea to sell cards before a tournament, and definitely not DURING the tournament. He saw Knowledge looking through the cards and wondered how he was going to do today.

But above all, everyone knew the name of Terry Hairston and figured him to win the tournament and that Millennium Puzzle. Terry had taken control of one of the few tables in the store and was looking through his deck, searching for errors or possible cards that could be taken out. Terry, at 16 years old as well, was almost the Terrell Owens of Yu-Gi-Oh, he was just that exciting to watch. But he didn't have nearly the ego of TO. He was more of the duelist that you could talk to for help, but once a duel started, it was all business. He never liked to show emotion in a duel, he felt it was like revealing your hand. Little kids frequently brought him their decks and asked him to tweak it even after Knowledge had looked it over. Terry never showed disrespect to anyone and treated everyone fairly, even when there were times he was called a cheater by little kids that lost humiliatingly to him.

Today though, he was in deep though with his deck that was using some new strategies that he only used in his mind and maybe on his Game Boy games. He knew that he could easily beat anyone there with some exceptions. Knowledge was one of them. Terry has never been able to keep a consistent win streak playing against Knowledge, and vice versa incidentally, and it was rumored that he had changed his deck totally from his normal Deck Destruction theme that he played with. And up to this point, he had never even shown that he came here with a deck. Terry wondered what Knowledge was planning here and if he did change his deck, what is he playing today?

A very sharp whistle that probably caused some of the little kids to lose control of their bladder rang out from RJ, who had finished signing in people and was ready to start the tournament. RJ was a guy that was in the business to make money but he did have a heart, he liked the game but he thought he was way too old for it so he just watched the kids from behind his counter and silently took notes and such.

"Alright," yelled RJ, taking command of the store, "Like usual, you all will start with 4000 Life Points with the restrictions and rulings but for this tournament today, it will be single elimination. If you lose, you're out." This brought immediate groans from everyone, even some of the veteran players. This meant that you would have to adapt to your opponent's deck in only one match, totally eliminating side decks and side strategies. RJ continued over the groans.

"For this kind of prize, be glad that I didn't charge you for this. Anyway, our usual judge isn't here so Knowledge came to me and volunteered to do the judging today. Knowledge, you know you're going to be paid so don't try any funny stuff."

Terry was surprised at this, as well as Jamie. They both knew that Knowledge was one of the best duelists there and he had one of the best shots at winning today, but he's going to judge? A judge for a tournament is not allowed to compete at the same time, his focus is to make sure that all the duels are going fairly and to settle any arguments that arise. Terry decided to disregard this as one more duelist that he didn't have to see in the tournament so his main concern was now with Jamie.

Knowledge got up in front of the counter holding the tournament brackets and started announcing each players opponents.

We shall leap ahead in the story seeing as how both Terry and Jamie were extremely successful in their brackets and as almost everyone expected, they were matched against each other for the final duel of the tournament. RJ kept a special table to the side for the tournament finals. It was pretty much a table that had all 4 legs on it unlike a lot of the others around the store. It was standing against the counter and Terry and Jamie each took a seat at the end of the table and Knowledge took a seat around the middle of the table, opposite the counter. RJ leaned over the counter to watch as well and the remaining people that stayed to watch crowded around wherever there was room and where they could see.

Both Jamie and Terry knew each other and if it wasn't such a serious prize, they would joke with each other about whatever throughout the duel, but they were both all business. They looked at each other from across the table, both nervous because neither got a chance to see the other's deck in action nor even heard what was in it.

"Terry," said Jamie.

Terry glanced up at Jamie and extended his hand and Jamie shook it in respect to each other.

"You know," said Jamie, smiling slightly "Im not gonna let you just walk away with that puzzle. You can take this chance to leave, admit im the better man and no one will think bad of you."

Terry knew that Jamie meant it as a joke and had to laugh. It felt good to lighten the tension that was obviously between them. "Sorry, old man," Terry said "But you're gonna have to go back to prune juice and oatmeal. I have no intention of not taking that puzzle and I don't think youre gonna stop me, Gramps. So just bring on the noise!" Everyone around the store liked to joke about how Jamie was the oldest person there, only second to RJ and call him Gramps, Pops or whatever. Knowledge couldn't keep from laughing as well as some of the kids there. Now that the tension was broken, they handed each other their dueling decks and right off the bat, Terry noticed that as he was shuffling Jamie's deck that he was on that edge of 40 cards, which he normally didn't do. Jamie noticed that Terry's deck didn't look any different on appearance, he usually kept a deck around 45 or so. Both players returned their decks to their owners, set them in place, drew their starting 5 cards and began the duel.

Jamie had elected to go first and eyeing his opening hand, he believed that he would have this match in the bag. He had to grin to himself and figured that this match would not bring the legendary flare that Terry was known for in a lot of his more important duels.

Terry looked at Jamie and saw the grin that he was showing on his face and Terry contributed it to cockiness. Terry knew what kind of decks that Jamie liked to play with, a lot of burn and discards, and figured him to stall a few turns. Still, that grin seemed to have a little bit more meaning today…

"Alright, here we go." said Jamie. He plucked a card out of his hand and set a reverse card and set a reverse monster as well. "Plus," he says, as he laid down Chorus of Sanctuary.

Jamie ended his turn there.

Terry drew and wondered why he would play a card like Chorus of Sanctuary. It's not the kind of card you would find in a tournament level deck, it makes you wonder what Jamie is cooking in those 40 or so cards he calls a deck. In any case, Terry decided to not be careless here if he wants to win today.

"My turn," says Terry and set one reverse card and summoned Iron Knight Gear Freed. Terry decided to forego the cautious approach and attacks the face down monster, which turned out to be Mystical Elf 800/2500.

Jamie has to chuckle to himself at Terry's eagerness. He knows that he could really mess him up on the next turn and wonders if he can break that poker-like concentration that he has in the game.

Terry, meanwhile, is disappointed in himself that he let himself get so worked up over a face down monster and is now out of 700 Life Points for it.

TERRY: 3300

JAMIE: 4000

"What's the problem, Terry? This old man making you nervous?" Jamie snickered.

"No sweat, man." Says Terry. "The game's only begun."

Jamie grined again, knowing that statement is very true. He feels he's in control of this match right now and decides to try to confuse Terry even more, make his get off his game and work into his hands. Jamie drew and showed Terry his card, Pot of Greed.

"Care to take any guesses at what this deck is about?" Says Jamie as he draws his 2 cards and places them into his hand.

Terry cracks a smile and says, "Im sure that you're going to show me eventually."

"How true. I will also use my reverse card as well, Upstart Goblin."

TERRY: 4300

JAMIE: 4000

"Consider the Life Points a gift you wont be able to use. I'll end my turn there but I'm one card over the limit so I have to discard one card." Jamie picked a card and placed it in his graveyard. Terry glanced a look at the card, and had to take a double take and make sure that he's seeing right. The card that he discarded was Jinzo!

Terry was at a loss and for a moment thought that Jamie had lost all sense of how to play the game. Jinzo is a one-sacrifice monster that he could have easily sacrificed his Mystical Elf 800/2000 for and taken more of his Life Points away and killed his Gear Freed 1800/1600. There was something not right about this deck. Upstart Goblin, Chorus of Sanctuary, discarding Jinzo. _What kind of strategy was this?_

"Hey Terry, it's your turn."


	2. Confused Duelist

_No sense in waiting, lets get right to the next one!_

_Disclaimer: I dont own Yu-Gi-Oh, its products, or anything else ole Takahashi cooked up. How NICE would it be to have that much money and powerfrom writinga manga?_

* * *

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History**

**Chapter 2: Confused Duelist**

Terry snapped himself out of his daydream and drew his next card, which turned out to be a Cyber Jar.

The Life Points were in his favor, but that didn't settle him at all. CyberJar could help him get a better idea of what he was facing since he had to show him his cards. He would have to show his as well but that didn't matter to him.

"Im not sure what kind of deck that is, but I promise you that you wont be smiling a lot more during this duel. I'll set a reverse monster for this turn." Said Terry.

Jamie eyed the set card carefully, wondering what that might be. _I definitely have him guessing at my cards_ he said to himself. _And I'm just about set in how im going to do these next few turns. Amazing how discarding a few cards and doing some things a little different will throw Terry off. What bothers me is that reverse monster. But that reverse card is worse, it's been on the field for a long time, like he's been waiting on me to do something to spring it. Why not, let's let him think we walked into his trap. He'll be the one trapped in the end._

"It's my turn!" said Jamie, as he drew his next card. Jamie looked at it and seemed to make a grin that Terry thought would have split his lips. He placed that card into his hand and announces his move.

"I'll set a reverse card and I'll set a reverse monster to end my turn."

_Good,_ thought Terry, _he didn't attack so now I can attack his monsters when he draws them._

"My turn!" Terry said as he drew his new card. "I'll Flip Summon Cyber Jar (900/900) to destroy all your monsters and my Gear Freed (1800/1600). Now let's see what you're hiding." Terry draws his next five cards, Polymerization, Sangan (1000/600), Summoned Skull (2500/1200) La Jinn (1800/1000) and Scapegoat.

Jamie draws his five cards and shows them to Terry. The cards are Card Destruction , Warrior: Dai Greyfar (1700/1600), Reflect Bounder (1700/1000), Shadow of Eyes and Monster Reborn.

Both duelists looked at their opponents cards, made their assumptions about what they would try to do and then set down their playable monsters as allowable from Cyber Pod. Terry played his Sangan (1000/600) and La Jinn (1800/1000) in attack mode. Jamie played his Reflect Bounder (1700/1000) and Dai Greyfar (1700/1600) in attack mode as well. Terry saw an opportunity to turn the duel to his favor and his reverse cards give him an idea. He ended his turn he discarded a card to the graveyard, to reduce his hand size to 6.

Jamie knew that Terry was up to something, Reflect Bounder should be the only thing holding him back. Jamie silently picked up his next card and decided to put Terry out of this match right now.

"Hey Terry, what would you say if I told you that I though that you had a Cyber Pod set and I let you activate it?" Says Jamie, with a slight grin.

Terry eyes him and replies with, "I'd say that you were lying straight through your false teeth."

Jamie laughed at that. "I guess you would say that. I know you have to be eager to win that puzzle but I don't think you're going to beat me today. No big tricks, no come from behind win, no last turn magic, just a straight loss."

"If you want to teach me something, beat me first and then I'll listen." Terry replied.

"Well I guess that's just what I'll have to do. Ill set one reverse monster then activate my Trap Card, Ultimate Offering!"

"I will pay 500 of my Life Points for an extra summon…" Jamie started.

TERRY: 4300

JAMIE: 3500

"And now I'll sacrifice Dai Greyfar (1700/1600) for Sword Stalker! (2000/1600) Swordstalker! Attack Sangan! (1000/600)"

"Trap Card, Open!" Said Terry, "Magic Arm Shield!"

"What?" says Jamie.

"With this Trap Card, I can take control of one of your monster and use it as my shield to protect my Sangan (1000/600). The monster I choose is your Reflect Bounder!"

Jamie didn't think that Terry would try to stop his attack and now his Reflect Bounder in the way. But that means…

"Since your Reflect Bounder effect is to reflect an attack back at it's owner, not only do you lose 300 from destroying your own Reflect Bounder, but (2000) from its effect." Said Terry with a smirk.

"Heh, I though you could do better than that." Says Jamie, laying his hand on his reverse card. "Counter Trap! Barrel Behind the Door!"

TERRY: 2300

JAMIE: 3200

Terry's smirk dropped away as soon as it appeared. Jamie had definitely strengthened his deck since the last time they dueled and he definitely didn't expect him to prepare for that._Barrel Behind the Door takes any non Battle Damage Jamie would have gotten and gave it to me.I lost 2000 Life Points but Jamie still did lose his monster and 300 of his own Life Points. Could he possibly have known that he set Cyber Pod and that he really could read him?..._

"Turn end. It's your turn, Terry."

Terry takes a moment to look at what's happening here. He still has his La Jinn (1800/1000) and Critter (1000/600), both in attack mode and his reverse card, Dark Spirit of Silence. When Jamie decides to attack, he can have an option to redirect that attack to another monster of Jamie's but right now, he only had his Swordstalker on the field, so that trap is useless until he summons another monster. With Ultimate Offering active, he can still sacrifice for a better monster. Also, Chorus of Sanctuary is in play which boosts all the defense of defense position monsters by 500 points. And to make things worse, he doesn't know the main focus of this deck so he can't think of something to counter it, if he can.

Terry draws and decided to forget trying to figure out this deck. _It's throwing me off my game_. He looks at his drawn card, Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000), one of the key cards to his deck. _My deck for this tournament revolved around Red Eyes, his fusions and such. I got inspired for this deck from watching and hearing about the former World Champion's deck and his deck staple, his Red-Eyes. Lamar Vega was the former Champions name and he motivated me to use Red-Eyes once. But I have Summoned Skull (2500/1200) and Polymerization in my hand, I can summon Black Skull Dragon and trash his Swordstalker. Nothing that Jamie drew from Cyber Pod can stop it and I doubt that he can do much after it's out._

"My turn, I'll switch Sangan to defense mode, his defense is now at (1000/1100) from Chorus of Sanctuary. Now i'll play Polymerization for my Red-Eyes and Summoned Skull for Black Skull Dragon! (3200/2500) Attack the Swordstalker (2000/1600) then La Jinn, (1800/1000) direct attack!"

TERRY: 2300

JAMIE: 200

Jamie grimaces at this, he didn't figure to be playing a fusion deck today. From those attack's he's now at 200 Life Points and without any monsters and just his Ultimate Offering and Chorus of Sanctuary out. _I'm going to lose in the next turn unless i can think of something to stop that Black Skull Dragon_.

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Terry says, looking a lot more confident.

"My turn!" Jamie says and drew his card and got something pretty nice. It was actually a preview for Terry, for it was the deck type he was looking to use for the future.

Jamie started his turn. "For this turn, I will summon Axe Raider (1700/1150) in attack mode. Then play Monster Reborn for my Reflect Bounder (1700/1000) in attack mode."

Terry was a little curious as to this move, _I can understand putting Relfect Bounder out in attack mode. Even after it's effect is done with, we will both lose all our Life Points and just tie. But why Axe Raider?_

Jamie picked up a card from his hand. "Now I'll play this Spell Card! Goblin Thief!"

TERRY: 1800

JAMIE: 700

"Goblin Thief damages your Life Points for 500 and increases mine by 500.But I will pay 500 Life Points from Ultimate Offering to summon Cosmo Queen (2900/2450) in attack mode!"

Terry is hardly impressed. "You still have 300 attack points to go before I start sweating this. One Cosmo Queen (2900/2450) is nothing that my Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500) can't handle easily."

Jamie breaks out a smile. "Then I'll lend you a handkerchief. I'll play Sword of Deep Seated to raise it's attack power by 500, more than enough for Cosmo Queen (3400/2450) to take down your dragon (3200/2500)."

Terry grimaced a little from that, he didn't expect a Spellcaster to put down one of his Black Skull Dragons.

TERRY: 1600

JAMIE: 200

"And in the next turn, I will start burning though all your monsters and win this tournament!" Said Jamie, with a smile across his face again.

Terry only has his head bowed, his facial expression hidden to Terry but when he raised it, there was that cocky smile that usually appeared when he pulled one of his miracles.

"It's a pity, Jamie. You're looking down the street before you even leave your front yard." Terry says.

Jamie's smile faded immediately, because he recognized that cocky little smirk. "What do you mean?"

"You don't think I would send out one of my strongest monsters against someone like you without insurance, huh?" Said Terry, his hand sliding slowly toward his reverse card. "Trap Card Open! LIFELINE!"

"What!" says Jamie, his jaw close to hitting the floor.

Terry gingerly laid his hand into the graveyard and brought his Black Demon's Dragon back to the field, now with an attack power of (4000/2500) points.

"Lifeline is a card that forces me to discard all the cards in my hand. In exchange, i can Special Summon a monster that was destroyed in battle back to my field with it's attack power raised by 800 points. My turn! Black Skull Dragon will attack Cosmo Queen (3400/2450) and inflict 600 points of damage to you!"

TERRY: 1600

JAMIE: 0

* * *

_Well that's the first two chapters. We were introduced to our main character winning a small tournament, but this is where the normal stuff stops. Terry, Knowledge and Jamie have a lot of things waiting for them. Just so i can get things going with this story, i plan to release chapters in dual segments. Chapters 1 and 2 are aready up. Chapters 3 and 4 will be coming by 4/30 with the titles The Game Gets Grim and Fight Your Future! Terry vs. . I can't reveal the name yet but I hope you enjoyed it and continue to do so!_


	3. The Game Gets Grim

_Disclaimer: I own all characters, created cards and so on and such and such and this and that that is mine. If that makes sense. No? Not to me either...Let's just say 'I dont own it' and leave it at that..._

_As promised, a dual chapter update...and we get introduced to one of my favorite character creations._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History 

Chapter 3: The Game Gets Grim

If you've ever been to a baseball game when someone knocks out a home-run, you can feel the rattling of the stadium and the noise all around you. Imagine that blasting straight into Jamie, Terry, Knowledge and RJ's ears. The kids just went crazy all at once for getting to see a nice match and for Terry for winning. Terry however just took it in stride and kinda brushed it off as a common thing, though he definitely had all the respect in the world for Jamie. Jamie seemed to take the loss fine though and as both players stood up and shooks hands again.

"You know I hate you with a passion, right?" said Jamie with a grin on his face.

Terry saw it and couldn't help but let out a laugh and say, "You know you love me, everybody loves me. Who doesn't love me?"

About 40 little hands went up at the same time. RJ called Terry over and Knowledge joined him.

"You did pretty nice out there Terry." Said RJ.

"Eh, I just took care of business like I normally do." Terry said, trying to be modest.

"Well you just earned me a lot of money today, lot more than I even expected to make. So I'll tell you what, in addition to the puzzle, ill let you have 2 cards out of the case for nothing. How's that sound?" RJ said with a warm look on his face.

Terry's eyes lit up at the sound of that offer and he quickly took it. He leaned over the glass case of cards and scanned the contents of it. Knowledge leaned over and helped him look and they discussed which cards would be the best to take. Pretty soon, their eyes strayed toward some of the new cards that had come in.

I'll have to take a moment to explain these new cards. Not too long ago, Upperdeck and Konami of Japan came together to work on a joint project for some new cards for the Yu-Gi-Oh card game. To make the story short, they came up with some new cards that were exclusive at the moment to the English card game to make more money and such. In anycase, these cards were sold in 5 card packs at specialized events and tours. Upperdeck and Konami of Japan never bothered to name the set so the general fans refered to them as a 'X' set (NOTE: X cards are fantasy). There were a couple of decent common cards but what made the set so popular was some of the rarer cards. They were very unique and some were considered to be deck staples upon their releases. But like most things, Upperdeck messed them up and short printed the cards and never re-released them as additional promos or something. You were hard pressed to find someone with them that was willing to trade them away for their collectability, rarity, or worth to a duelist. Being the man with connections he is, RJ had a few of those X cards sitting in his cases. Makes you wonder why a guy like him with all his connections just works in a hobby shop.

Terry was looking at the few X cards that RJ had and his eyes scanned over a trap card called Blood Transfusion. The picture on the card was that of a IV in the arm of a man, his arm only visible, on a table that was going to another arm of a blue skinned and clawed arm.

Type: Trap

At the cost of 2000 Life Points, you may search your deck for

1 Monster Card and add it to your hand. In addition, you may

Special Summon that monster to the field if your opponent has

2 or more monsters on his/her field. This monster cannot attack

on the turn it was summoned.

This card was extremely hard to come by but it was welcome to almost any deck that you could make in the game. The ability to grab a monster at will and Special Summon it to the field if your opponent has monsters on the field is a sweet effect. The only drawback to the card besides its rarity is that you can't attack on the turn you summon it. Also, some people believed that you could use the effect of summoning the monster when there's 2 or more monsters at any time. You can only summon it during the turn you grab it. But even with that limitation, this card is a must have. Terry gestured to RJ that he wanted this card and RJ removed it from the case, placed it in a hard plastic cover and handed it to him. Terry then started scanning for another card to add to his deck. He kept looking around the case again but came back to the X cards that seemed to be calling to him. He wanted a monster and there were a few common monsters that didn't excite him a lot but then he saw it. The card that everyone wished they could have from X sets, Scorpio Dragon.

Type: Normal Monster

Light/Dragon/8/2950/2500

The card has no effects to it but its power isn't ignored. It's one of the strongest normal monsters in the game, second to Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Add to the fact that there are a limited amount of these cards available in the game and it makes it better than a Blue-Eyes in that respect. Terry motioned for RJ to take this card for him as well. A Scorpio Dragon and Blood Transfusion as well as the puzzle and Terry considered this day to be a pretty good success.

"Those are some pretty nice cards man." Said Knowledge.

He actually was a bit jealous that he got such nice cards. He knew that Terry was better than him with that new deck that he had but he still wanted a shot to prove he was just as good as he was. It wasn't an obsession or something but he never liked being the second best or third best.

"Yeah, now that I got them, I'll probably change my deck to fit these cards better. Which reminds me, are you still using that deck destruction theme?"

Knowledge smiled and shook his head no and reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. Terry reached to take them from him and look them over but Knowledge yanked his hand back and pocketed them again.

"So sorry, the only way you're gonna see this is if you…" said Knowledge, thinking for a moment, then letting his eyes travel toward that new Millennium Puzzle of Terry's.

"The only way you'll see this deck is if you let me play you for that Millennium Puzzle of yours." Said Knowledge, smiling.

Terry had to stifle a laugh at that request. He barely had time to look at the thing, much less put it up as a bet. He kindly declined Knowledge's offer, grabbed his coat, made sure he had his deck and his new items and headed out the door, waving to Knowledge and RJ.

A few days had passed since that tournament and Terry went on with his normal tasks of going to school, chilling out with friends and of course, looking at girls. Normal things that a middle school schoolboy would normally do. It was on one of these days that Terry was just sitting around looking through his deck, playing a blind game. A blind game is a duel where you're pretty much playing against the toughest opponent possible. Imagine an opponent that could pretty much counter every move that you made. The object of such a game is to try to inflict damage to your opponent, not to actually win a game.

It was more of a bored man kind of day for Terry today. There was nothing happening anywhere and on those days, Terry was content to chill in his room watching TV, playing video games or playing with his cards. Terry started thinking about that Millennium Puzzle of his, which was hanging off of his neck, and wondered what it would be like to have an alter ego of his own. He'd seen the anime and everything but he wondered what it would be like to have a friend that's only a heartbeat away, someone that you could talk to anytime you wanted and someone that would help you through some of your toughest problems. It would be nice to know someone like that.

Terry then jumped almost halfway out of his skin when the phone rang. He had been sleeping and didn't even notice he dozed off. He looked around drowsily for where he had placed that phone and of course it being a cordless and him being a teenager, it was buried somewhere in his room. Terry started digging though clothes and papers until he found the phone several rings later inside one of his pillowcases. Terry lay down on the bed and answered the phone.

"Hello?" said Terry, the sleep showing in his voice.

"Is this Terry Hairston?" said a loud voice, so loud that Terry had to back his head away from the phone. He could hear shouting and sirens in the background of the caller. It sounded like something from a Lethal Weapon movie or something.

"Speaking, what's up?" said Terry.

"Mr. Hairston, we need you to come to the downtown library immediately." Said the caller.

"Why? And who's this 'we?'" said Terry to the caller, starting to think this was a crank caller.

"This is the police department, you're talking to Lieutenant Biggs and we need you down here immediately!" said the lieutenant.

Terry sat up on the bed, still not convinced, "What do you guys want with me? What does the police want with me?"

Terry heard more screaming through the phone and a single distinct voice shouting aloud through all the screaming. Terry's heart started skipping beats and he heard the lieutenant yelling something indistinctly to someone. Less and less did this sound like a crank call.

"Look, there's no time to explain. Come to the Downtown library right now. And be sure to bring your cards."

"What?" said Terry, not sure he heard right.

"Bring your dueling deck. And for your sake, I hope your good." said the lieutenant before the line went dead.

Ten minutes later and a tense squadcar ride with an equally tense police officer that didn't know anything that Terry didn't hear from the lieutenant and he was standing outside a group of 9 police cars circled around the downtown library. He nervously gripped his Millennium Puzzle tightly and look around outside the window.

The actual library was pretty new and encased in a very unusual design for a library. Instead of your normal library that took up a whole block and was just a square building, this library was almost a cylindrical shape, outfitted with glass on the outside. Think of a giant straw sticking out of the ground and you've pretty much got it. The police were gathered around the main entrance to the library and there were a lot of people behind barricades that were nervously looking on and the police officers that were inside the barricade were equally nervous which didn't help Terry since he didn't even know why he had been summoned here. The police officer pulled up close to the outer ring of police cars, parked and yelled through his window to someone. Terry saw a silver-haired man in a dark suit turn toward the car. The man looked like he was groggier than he was when he got that call. He was dressed nice and clean but you could see that the stress of the situation had worn on him. Terry was starting to get really nervous, why in the world would someone call him for something like this and why in hell was he supposed to bring his dueling deck?

"Are you Terry Hairston?" said the man.

"Yes." said Terry nervously as he stepped out of the car.

"Lt. Biggs, we talked on the phone." he said as he offered his hand.

"Yeah, I remember." said Terry, his hand visibly shaking as he shook the lieutenant's hand.

The lieutenant sighed and lead Terry toward the entrance to the library. He explained the situation as they walked.

"A few weeks ago, we received a threatening letter from an anonymous writer saying he or she was gonna do somethin' to remind the world of 'how dark and insane one person can make it' and all that. We get a lot of letters like that, some we have to take seriously and some we brush off as pranks to cause panic. This letter seemed to be written by someone with a problem with the world but we didn't trace it. Then a few days ago, we got another letter that looked to be from the first writer. This time, they said that there will be blood spilled 'til their message became clear to everyone. The message was that they would kill until their demands were met. That got the attention of the whole department and we were put on 'an alert to watch for any kind of activities like that. We got a call that someone was causing a disturbance here at the library so we dispatched a unit here, me, to investigate. The main doors were locked and all the first floor windows were blacked out and barricaded."

Terry listened word-for-word as they moved toward an S.W.A.T van that was up toward the front of the pack of cars.

"When reinforcements arrived, we got a call from inside from one of the trapped hostages. He said that there was a masked bandit runnin through the library, burning books and chantin and all this other mess. But then our hostage got caught and the bandit took the phone for their own and has been saying all kinds of madness to us. Were at a loss here."

"So what am I doing here then? I'm just a kid." Said Terry.

The lieutenant turned away from Terry and looked toward the building. He then lowered his head and lit a cigarette and said, "The guy in there is a maniac and a very dangerous one. He called us a half hour ago with his demands. He wanted two things. Hypodermic needles, which we supplied him with already. Who knows what he wants with that. Then he made a very strange request to us that we didn't really know how to fulfill until a kid out of the crowd back there told us. He wanted the 'Miracle' duelist to come and meet with him. You name was the only one that came up."

Terry's eyes opened up so wide, the lieutenant though he might have to pick them up off the street in a moment. And he didn't blame the kid for being so surprised at what he was asking of him.

"Y-you want me t-t-to…" stuttered Terry.

"Yeah, kid. That maniac wants to see you. Alone." said the lieutenant, exhaling a long string of smoke toward the library building.

Terry could hardly believe his ears. These guys wanted him to go in there and talk to the maniac that had barricaded himself in there? Terry was not the kind of person that he figured to be a hero and his best heroic ability was knowing when to run.

"Look kid," said the lieutenant, putting his hand on Terry's shoulder, "There are a lot of people in there that are counting on you. I know that it seems like a big responsibility, but if we don't send you, there's a good chance that those hostages could end up dead. We don't want to see you get messed up either so we're gonna wire you so if anything gets too heavy, we can stop it."

Terry was silent as they attached a wire to his bare chest, deep in his own thoughts. He HAS to do this in order to possibly save all those lives that were depending on his arrival. But he never felt so scared in his life. He wondered if this is how those hostages felt holded up in that library, scared for their own lives. That offered Terry little comfort, being put in the position of having someone else's life weigh on what you do or don't do is something he never though he'd have to do. But here he was, being laced up with a wire and about to give himself to the mercy of a monster.

The officers finished putting the wire and started instructing him on what not to do so he wouldn't block them from hearing. Again, Terry heard them but was off in his own world. There were so many people in there, people he has never seen before in his life, and they needed him to come through for them.

The officers finished putting the wire on and Terry stood up, ready to enter the library. Lt. Biggs came by and put his hand on Terry's shoulder again.

"You up for this kid?" he said.

Terry could have lied and said, 'Hell no.' but he just nodded.

"You look like you shook off the jitters. I guess it's all up to you now. Remember, if things get crazy, we're only a holler away."

"I'll remember that." Terry said quietly.

"Well, there's the entrance, the rest is up to you. Please don't get anyone killed, especially yourself."

"Don't worry, I have no plans on dying today. Or any day soon for that matter." Terry said, hoping he was telling the truth and started walking toward the entrance. And as Terry took those steps toward the library, every officer held their breath and watched as this middle school student put a slew of lives in his hands and didn't seem bothered by it. Terry got to the stairs to the doors and it was like the entire world stopped talking, stopped breathing, everyone was just watching as Terry made his slow walk up the stairs to the double doors. At least the officers as they had 'blocked' the view of the entrance from the public with trucks. When Terry reached the top of the stairs, he stopped just short of the doors and reached one of his hands into his pocket and pulled out his deck. He looked at it for a moment and then looked down at his Millennium Puzzle. He gripped his deck tightly and pushed open the doors.


	4. Fighting the Future! Terry vs Re'Sha

_Disclaimer: Well i do own Yu-Gi-Oh! cards...but i guess that doesnt count. I guess that's cool, my wrists would be tired drawing all those monsters. Man, it's tired enough from writing this story._

_Well, the second part of my dual chapter update. Our hero meets up with one seriously crazy lady with a unique deck choice. Remember it well, there will be a quiz on this later this week class. _

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

**Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History**

**Chapter 4: Fighting Your Future! Terry vs. Re'-Sha**

As Terry entered into the library, it did not even feel remotely close to a place where people came to learn, it felt more like a dungeon. A dark, mildew filled dungeon where dampness from the walls hang in the air and people that enter it automatically are solemn and quiet. There was almost no light coming into the room except from outside and as the double doors slowly closed, the light faded and faded until there was nothing but darkness. Faint rays of sunshine peered in through parts of the window that hadn't been completely painted.

Terry stood still in the darkness until he felt a tickle on his neck but when he reached it, he found that somehow his hands had been bound. He was trapped and he never even knew it!

"Amazing, isn't it?" said a echoing voice through the library.

Terry perked up his head and tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness.

"Heh heh, humans are born in this world completely blind. There are many forms of animals that live their entire lives in the darkness, yet they adapt. They learn that being blind is a part of their lives. But humans can't adapt to darkness, instead it arises anxiety and fear."

A shape dropped right into Terry's face, a human face.

"And stupidity, heh heh heh" chuckled the figure.

Terry tried to make out a figure to the face, even from the voice, he couldn't tell if this person was a male or female.

"Oh, im sorry. You're all tied up right now. Not really in the mood for talking?"

Terry fell silent, he never had any experience with a maniac, but he knew his own mouth and that it might get someone killed, namely him.

The figure seemed to back away from Terry's face and then a lighter lit the space between him and his captor. The captor wore a mask that covered any features that might give him or herself away. The only thing that he could see was that this person had silver, not even close to gray but actual silver eyes that combined with the soft glow of the lighter and the darkness that surrounded them made them look inhuman and eerie. The captor then took the lighter and held it over his bound arms and they seemed to give way. He tested them and saw that he was indeed free now. He nudged his neck and saw that that too was giving as well. He checked his arms and could see that somehow, he was bound up by some very thin wiring that was hanging off of his wrists.

The figure raised their hand that had the lighter in it and started walking away and Terry followed along.

"So you're the duelist that they sent me, huh?" said the figure.

"Yeah," said Terry.

"Hmph." gruffed the figure.

They continued along without anymore conversation. The only sounds coming from the room were the footsteps of Terry and the maniac as they walked across the hardwood floors. Terry couldn't be sure but he thought that they were heading toward the circular staircase. In the library, to make use of the stairs in a decorative way, they had the stairs circle the very center of the building. Imagine like it was said before that the library was a straw again. The center of this library would be the hole in the straw and the sides were where all the books sat on the many floors of the library. Terry's intuition was right as they came toward the entrance toward that very room. The figure let the lighter go out and opened the doors and light washed into Terry's eyes and he had to squint to keep from being blinded.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light he saw sights he wished he could have erased from his memories right then and there. There were people tied to pillars out of the floor that were wearing tattered clothing and had streaks of blood over their skin. Some wounds looked fresh while some looked more deep and were dripping onto the floor with a loud and clear splat in the silence of the room. There were some people that were laid out on the ground that didn't seem to be moving but there were dried streaks of red along the floor and small puddles around a lot of people's legs, like they had been slashed.

"Heh heh, don't worry about these people, they're all alive. For now. They're either unconscious or too scared to move anymore. Or maybe im lying and theyre dead." chuckled the bandit. Terry couldn't contain his disproval with this display.

"What the hell kind of person laughs at something like this?" Terry growled at this maniac.

The bandit walked over to a small table in the center of the room and stood behind on of the two chairs on either side. "And what makes you think that you're so righteous? Who's to say that society hasn't twisted itself in the wrong direction and I'M the only sane person here?"

"That's the kind of stuff that only maniacs talk about, how they're not insane and everyone else in the world is." Terry replied.

"And they're right. Humans are violent in nature, they are God's most destructive force in the universe because they were given the ability to hate and the ability to thirst for vengeance. The only release from this is death. The only way to live is to embrace these abilities."

Terry walked over to the other chair. "You really expect me to believe that? People don't go around killing a person just for fun and it's not every person's fantasy to kill and hurt people."

"Isn't it? Look throughout history. There have been 'tyrants' as we call them that have done acts just as unforgivable but we look to them as heroes, like the president that ordered the drop of the Hiroshima bomb. Killed hundreds, no thousands, of Japanese lives but potentially saved thousands of troops. But even common people embrace these emotions. Little kids that wish for death to come to those that bully them. Teenagers so full of rage against everyone that they shoot up schools. Young adults so obsessed with the other sex that they're willing to-"

"Why did you bring me here?" asked Terry, seeing that conversation with this guy would not lead him to too many answers.

The bandit seemed to smile through that mask and leaned over the chair. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Terry didn't answer.

"I do. I believe that there is purpose to every person's life. Researchers spend their lives looking through ancient texts for answers to all sorts of questions. They search for answers to the unexplained mysteries of Earth. There is a term called 'Future History' ever heard of it?"

Terry replied no.

The bandit took a seat in the chair and Terry did likewise. "Future History is a term used by people that believe that everyone's future is written, their path in life, the choices they make, the children they produce, the jobs they have, what personality they have, everything is all predetermined. Their place in history has already been written."

"And this means what to me and all these people?" questioned Terry.

"I've seen your Future History." said the bandit.

"What?" said Terry.

"I know everything that you will do and everything you're going to amount to." said the bandit.

"How?" asked Terry.

The bandit then stopped talking and started to take away their mask. The mask gave way to the face of a woman!

The woman shook her long, jet black hair free from her Asian like featured face and spoke. "My name is Re'-Sha Shiyth. Your Future History will not manifest itself as long as I live. I challenge you to a duel here and now and you will not refuse me or I will kill all these people. Today is the day that I will rewrite history!"

Re'-Sha took a deck from one of her pockets and started to shuffle it. Terry removed his and started shuffling as well. Terry was thinking as he shuffled, _what did this girl mean by Future History? And why was she so intent on stopping him from doing whatever he was supposedly going to do?_

"I can tell you're trying to figure if what I've told you is true." said Re'-Sha, holding a small smile on her face that looked downright murderous.

"Let's say that it's not everyday that someone comes out to me and says 'your Future History will not manifest itself as long as I live.'" said Terry truthfully.

"I guess there's no harm in saying this to you, you're not going to be around very long. The ancient civilizations of this world were known for their abilities to do things that, even in these days of modern science and technology, you have trouble duplicating. A common trait that they all shared was their thirst for knowledge, a burning force to know all in the world and in the universe. So it was for these reasons that knowledge was passed from generation to generation. There was a group of people, an assembly of six priests that were called Gods by their own people."

"Gods? They called them Gods for what?" asked Terry.

"Don't interrupt, boy." snapped Re'-Sha, "These Egyptian priests had an ability to see the future as if it was already written, Future History. They considered it a gift from the gods. As a whole the Egyptians were wise and the ideal civilization of their time. But as individuals, they were greedy, self-conscious and stupid. There was one Egyptian priest that was so self-absorbed with himself that he abused his power and changed part of his own future. His fellow citizens and priests cast him away as an exile for what he did…"

"You're not telling me anything but a story that I don't believe." Terry said.

"Really?"

Terry had to quiet up on that one; he truthfully did believe what she was saying somehow. He found himself believing a lot of the things he was being told about these days. By this time they had both stopped shuffling their cards.

"Let's begin this duel, you can worry about this conversation later, heh." suggested Re'-Sha, setting her deck in front of Terry to be cut.

Terry silently did the same and put that conversation behind him. He had been having the strangest things happen to him these days and there was some part of him that believed that she was telling some bit of truth. But he couldn't put it out of his mind. He gave Re'-Sha his deck and cut hers. They took their individual deck back and Terry immediately kicked himself because he didn't even get a feel for how many cards were in the deck. Damn woman was putting him out of his game even before the first cards were played. Both players picked up their starting 5 cards and began their duel.

"I'll go first." said Terry, eyeing his starting hand. He had recently changed his deck from his tournament version and was in middle grounds. It was nice but he did not feel totally comfortable with it. Still, he felt he could play with the best of them with it. He wasn't sure of this woman's skill level but he was sure to find out soon.

"I'll summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) in attack mode and end my turn there." says Terry.

"Nice card, my friend. I can't even counter it."

"I'm not your friend. Make your move."

Terry looked toward Re'-Sha as she eyed her hand. Terry could tell a lot from reading a duelist's face. Her face was in her cards and he guessed she didn't notice him staring and it wouldn't matter much in any case. From what he saw, it seemed that she didn't have any cards in her hands that she liked. A variety of things tip you off to this and you can learn these things from any pro card player. Little body movements, the way their eyes move, the way they react to certain situations, all tipped you off to little hints at what your opponent was thinking. Re'-Sha didn't have anything in her hand to strike down his Goblin Attack Force and it looked like she was going to use some other strategy.

"My turn," she said, drawing her card. She smiled at it and placed it into her hand. Then she picked out two different cards from her hand.

"I'll set one reverse card and then play Swords of Revealing Light. End turn."

Terry frowned at this move. _Swords of Revealing Light are usually placed into decks that need a little time to gather up important cards. But I don't have anything in my hand that can destroy Swords of Revealing Light._

"My turn," Terry said, drawing his next card. He thought for a moment about how to handle this. He didn't want to spend anymore unnecessary time with this woman so he needed to get this match in his hands right now. He took a card out of his hand and looked at it, Imperial Control. This card would help him out should he run into a troublesome Trap Card. It would negate all Trap Cards on the field, besides itself. This woman was up to something and he wasn't going to get caught blind. There were lives that were depending on him.

"I'll set one reverse card and then set this reverse monster. Your move." said Terry.

Re'-Sha silently picked up her next card and looked her hand over. Terry couldn't see much from her expressions, her face was set and she wasn't making any overly noticeable moves. Terry's guess was that she knew about the reading a duelist strategy and locked herself down. It mattered little to Terry though. He knew that she was waiting on a card or some cards to turn up but when the Swords of Revealing Light ended, he would be able to attack freely.

Re'-Sha plucked a card from her hand and looked at Terry. "Card Destruction," she said, turning the card so Terry could see it. Terry and Re'-Sha both had to give up their hands and each draw 4 more cards. Terry wasn't hurt by this move but it seemed to help Re'-Sha more as she seemed to have a gleam in her eyes as she picked up her individual cards.

"Heh, only a few more turns until I can defeat you." Re'-Sha said.

"Right, problem is you haven't even touched my Life Points." Terry said, with a smirk and shrugging his shoulders.

"You're so naïve. You can't even grasp what I'm planning for you and your little 'reading trick' is not going to help either." Re'-Sha narrowed her eyes at the young man.

_So she DID know I was reading her_, Terry though.

"I'll set a reverse monster and end my turn."

"My turn," said Terry and cracked a smirk at Re'-Sha, hand sneaking to his recently set reverse monster. "I don't care what strategy you're cooking, but for those people, I refuse to lose and you've walked into my trap. I'll Flip Summon my reverse monster, Jowels of Dark Demise! Jowels will let me take control of your reverse monster and would normally let me attack you directly with it, but I'll do something different. I will sacrifice your monster and Jowels of Dark Demise (200/100) to summon Tyrant Dragon!"

"I still can't attack so I will end my turn." Terry said but continued, pointing down to his two monsters. "But there is only one more turn left on your Swords of Revealing Light. I could just attack with both my Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) and my Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) and end this duel."

Re'-Sha had closed her eyes and was still smiling.

"Heh heh heh, you are pathetic!" she said, raising her head, her silver eyes seemingly actually blazing with a silver flame. "I swore I would beat you and it will take more than your pathetic dragon and simple words to beat me."

"What do you mean?" Terry said, figuring she was just talking nonsense.

"Did you not question yourself as to why this duel has been going so easily for you? Did you not question why I even played Card Destruction? I did it to send my monsters to the graveyard, where they're safe and I can better use them effectively." Re'-Sha said, fanning a few cards from the top of her graveyard out for Terry.

"What do you mean?" said Terry. He looked at the top card of her graveyard and his jaw nearly hit the table. The top most card was The Left Leg of the Forbidden One (300/200), one of the pieces of Exodia! In actuality, it was the card that he used as a sacrifice to summon his Tyrant Dragon. (2900/2500) With all the discarding that she did to her hand from Card Destruction, there must be more than one piece in the graveyard. Maybe all of them could possibly be there. But that then reminded him of something else, how it was easier to grab Exodia from your grayeyard with a single card, Backup Soldier.

She could have been planning to revive all her pieces instead of just drawing them. Her reverse card must be Backup Soldier. With it, she could return 3 Normal Monster cards from her graveyard to her hand as long as they had an attack strength less than 1500. Terry then remembered the set Imperial Control, which could negate that card. When she tried to revive her pieces, he could knock that card out and she would be sunk.

"I guess by now," started Re'-Sha, "you should know what kind of trouble you put yourself into. Set card open!" Re'-Sha exclaimed. Before she could announce her card, Terry cut in calling his own card.

"Trap card, open! Imperial Control! I knew your reverse card was Backup Soldier and with Imperial Control, it's now negated and is just garbage."

"Really? Take a good look at the card you 'negated'" said Re'-Sha, exasperated.

Terry hadn't even bothered to look at the card but until now he didn't notice the green outline and tone of a Spell Card, NOT a Trap Card!

"As I was saying…Set card, open! Pact of Exodia!" Re'-Sha continued.

"Pact of Exodia can only be used if I have all five pieces of Exodia in my graveyard." And as she said it, she picked up five cards out of her graveyard and showed Terry that she indeed had all of them in her graveyard. Terry was so stunned he couldn't manage to say anything.

"I have all 5 pieces of the unstoppable monster Exodia in my graveyard, I can now summon a monster from my hand that can surpass any monster in the game! I summon Exodia Necros! (1800/0)"

Terry was in a total state of shock, he had heard about this card but never had gotten his hands on one. No one he knew had even breathed on one of these cards and now he had to find a way to defeat a monster with no real limit to his power. Necros could only be played with all 5 pieces of Exodia in the graveyard. Though it's attack power is only (1800/0), each Standby Phase that passed for Re'-Sha would increase it's attack power by 500 points.

What could he do against a monster that simply couldn't be defeated?

* * *

_Well, we've reached the end of my forth chapter. A bit of life imitating art, i play the card game and i know a guy that used Necros and after some 5 games, i couldn't beat the guy. Can't remember his name...Re'-Sha, i can't exactly recall where i got that name from, it had SOMETHING to do with Egyptians or Egyptian history. _

_Anyways, next update to the story to come on...hmm...5/4 sounds right. We'll be introduced to another character of mine, and i might as well tell you, he's my version of Kaiba. And the one characterfrom the anime that i promised would make an appearance, they'll stop in too.Also, no more table-top dueling! Duel Disks hit the scene! Oh yeah, well i guess we'll have to see how Terry manages to cope with a monster like Exodia Necros. All in two chapters called Bloodlust and Aftermath. Hope that any that read this enjoyed it!_


	5. Bloodlust

_Disclaimer: Man, im already 5 chapters into my story and im sick of saying it. Well, here we go, i dont own any rights to Yu-Gi-Oh, in any way, shape or form which isnt of my conjoining and conjointed confirmation. In other words, i only own what i created. Able to keep up class?_

_Well, Terry put himself in a real mess with Exodia Necros. But maybe he will come out triumphant. But if you notice, by this point in the duel, that no one has lost life points?..._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 5: Bloodlust

Terry's stomach dropped from this last move that Re'-Sha had put to him and pretty much made him look like a total idiot. Exodia Necros (1800/0), potentially the one undefeatable monster in the whole game if used right and Terry was sure that this would only be the beginning. Looking at the current situation, he was only in the 2nd turn of the Swords of Revealing Light, and by that time, Necros attack power would have risen to 2300, not enough to kill his Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500), but ties his Goblin Attack Force (2300/0). She had 3 cards in her hand compared to his 4. There were no reverse cards on the field other than his Imperial Control but that card wouldn't help him now. He drew his next card and continued to think. _Necros cannot be destroyed, but it still will do damage to its owner if its attacked. But by the time the Swords of Revealing Light wears off, it will be at 2800, just enough for my Tyrant Dragon to edge it. But after that one turn, Necros will be able to unleash itself on me._

"I'll set one reverse card and I'll end my turn." said Terry, trying to figure a way to kill that monster.

"Heh, with Necros out for me, I can attack your monsters freely. Since my standby phase has passed, Necros grows stronger and now has an attack power of 2300.

I will attack your Goblin Strike Team! (2300/0)"

"Then you're committing suicide for your monster."

"Wrong, have you forgotten one of the effects of Necros, it cannot be destroyed by battle! Only your monster dies!"

"Great," mumbled Terry, truly forgetting that quickly. He now only has his Tyrant Dragon and that will not last more than 2 more turns unless Re'-Sha decides to try something to hasten that process. He still could not figure out a way to defeat Necros.

"I have killed one of your monsters but I think I want to see you suffer first," she said as she set one reverse card and ended her turn. Terry had to wonder if that was a Spell Card or a Trap Card. It should be a Spell Card, with Imperial Control out, all Trap Cards would be negated as soon as they hit the field. So what kind of card could that be?

"My turn." said Terry and drew his next card, "I will play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my own Imperial Control. I will set one reverse card and summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in defense mode."

_With Obnoxious Celtic Guardian out, her monster can't attack me directly no matter how strong it gets. I hope it'll buy me some time to try to plan my next move_.

"My move." said Re'-Sha, holding a card in her hand. "Magic card, Riryoku!"

Terry was at a loss, Riryoku could drain one of his monsters attack power and let Re'-Sha do some serious damage.

"Your little stall for time will not help you here, I will use Riryoku to drain your Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) of half of it's attack power and add it to Necros (1800/0), which will take him up to 3750 and leaving your former tyrant of a dragon at 1450. Now, ill summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

"The stage is set! Necros (3750/0) attack Tyrant Dragon (1450/2500)." Re'-Sha called out.

Terry quickly countered. "Trap Card, Open! Mask of Darkness! Mask of Darkness will let me reduce the attack power of one of your monsters by 700.".

"Which won't save your monster." Re'-Sha pointed out. "It isn't enough to make your Tyrant Dragon 1450/2500 stronger than Necros (3750/0)"

"Heh, who said I was targeting Necros, Re'-Sha? My target is Vorse Raider!"

"What tha?" Re'-Sha let her mouth hang open, confused by the move.

"But at that moment, ill activate my other reverse card! Counter Trap, Open! Dark Spirit of Silence!"

"Dark Spirit of Silence lets me give your attack orders to another of your monsters. So, I'll choose your Vorse Raider (1200/1200) which has been weakened with Mask of Darkness! And in that attack, you'll take 250 damage to your Life Points!"

Re'-Sha could hardly contain her 'displeasure' with Terry's move and did not appreciate being shown up in this duel, but a shrill scream from out of the back of their room put a smile onto her face.

Terry heard that as well, and looked around desperately for the source of that scream and saw Re'-Sha looking past him at something behind him. When he turned, he saw that there were 2 hostages that seemed to be standing helplessly enough until he looked closer and saw that they wernt actually standing, but actually tied down to a strange contraption where they were laying on an angle with a long rod sticking into the sky near they pair of hostages. There were markings along that rod and numbers of 4000, 3000, 2000 and 1000 counting closer to the hostages faces. Terry almost knew what that was but heard Re'-Sha giggling.

"I see you finally noticed our Life Point counters."

"Counters!" said Terry, turning back toward Re'-Sha.

"Yes, these poor hostages are taking score of our duel but in a little different fashion. You do see that rod above their heads, yes? That rod has notches on it counting down from 4000 to 0, which represent our Life Points. At the top of that rod is a little surprise though courtesy of your police department."

Terry turned again and scanned near the top of the rod and saw 2 small gleams. They were a very thin looking device that seemed to be hollow in the middle and both filled with a liquid.

A needle. A hypodermic needle that the police gave to her.

"As you can see," continued Re'-Sha as Terry still had his back to her, "These people are our Life Point counters. Every time that we lose Life Points, those needles will start to drop closer and closer to them. Since you just made me take 250 points of damage…"

RE'-SHA: 3750

TERRY: 4000

Just as she finished saying this, he could see the needle on the left side starting a slow descent downward to the skull of the hostage on the left side.

"Their heads are perfectly aligned with the descent of that needle. When one of

us loses, so will that needle drop. Where would it land I wonder? Possibly into their eyes and we can watch as that acid eats away at them….it might be enough to kill them. Oh it's such an exciting twist."

"Exciting! You crazy bitch, leave these people out of this!"

"These people's blood will stain you all your life, no matter what happens in this match. The machine has been set that when one person loses, one hostage dies. If you choose to let me win, not only will I have completed my task but this hostage will also die. Choose to fight me and maybe win, that hostage will die! What can you possibly do! You can't save them both!"

Terry slowly turned back toward Re'-Sha and looked her deep into her eyes, eyes that were burning with bloodlust and determination. He felt shivers going through him, knowing that this woman was willing to kill just so that he could have no way to win. Never in his life did he meet a person so possessed at beating him. If he does win, the hostage dies but if he throws the match to her, the hostage still dies. What can he do?

Terry focused himself back to the duel at hand. Now not only was he dueling for his safety but for those two hostages and the others there. So many lives depended on his each and every move in this duel. He drew his next card, Pot of Greed.

"I will play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two more cards from my deck." Terry stated. Re'-Sha just nodded in his direction. Terry picked up his next two cards and started to feel a little hope. One of the cards he drew was Snatch Steal.

"I might not be able to defeat Necros right now, but I still have my ways. I'll play this Spell card, Snatch Steal! I can now take control of Necros from you and can use it as I see fit." Terry said, reaching for the Necros card on Re'-Sha's field.

"No. You will not. Trap Card open! Remove Brainwashing!"

"With this card, I have negated any possible chance of you ever getting control of Necros again. While Remove Brainwashing is on the field, control of a monster you own can't switch. But since your Snatch Steal card was not destroyed, I will still get 1000 Life Points on my next turn." Re'-Sha said, her arms crossed, head lowered and leering at Terry.

Terry couldn't believe this. She saw his move coming and was already prepared to strike back. With that current restriction, the only other way to kill Necros…was by sacrifice or a monster effect. Terry seriously doubted that she would want to sacrifice her monster, it's nearly unstoppable.

"I guess that's the end of your turn," Re'-Sha said as she drew her next card. "And thanks to your Snatch Steal card, my Life Points are now at 4750. Also, my Necros attack power continues to grow, coming to (3300/0)! But that's not enough, I will not stop until my Necros is totally unbeatable! Equip Spell Card! Axe of Despair!"

Terry was growing weary; Necros was growing stronger and stronger while his monsters could not compete with such a force. Axe of Despair put the monster's attack points up 1000 more.

"Necros (4300/0) will decimate your Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500), taking you down to 2600 Life Points. And there's nothing in your deck that can even compare with my monster."

RE'-SHA: 4750

TERRY: 2600

Terry did not speak.

"I wonder how it feels, hmmm. How does it feel to be the savior of so many lives but you realize so slowly that their destined to die? It must be such a struggle."

Terry tried not to listen to her but the words were hitting home. Every turn that passed, Necros would only get stronger. _Can I actually defeat her? Am i going to let all these people down?_

A shrill scream brought him out of his daydream, he lost so many life points on the last exchange and his 'counter' was coming closer to the needle point. He could see the shine off the tip coming closer to his hostage. He looked at the hostage, a young girl probably barely older than he was, a middle schooler at best. He looked her over, she was looking so tired and weary, her hair was frazzled and rough, her mouth was dry and parched. She looked almost like she was going to die. Right then, she looked up and into Terry's eyes, veins along the sides, red and irritated. Terry turned back to the duel, those eyes still in his memory. Those eyes were pleading with him, asking him to do something to release her from the fear that was gripping her. _I can't give up_, he decided, _no matter how hopeless it gets for me. Even if it meant somehow giving up my own life, I will not give up._

"It's your move," Re'-Sha said. Terry looked at her field and saw that she had set two reverse cards and one reverse monster. Terry drew his next card and did a double take at it, Monster Reborn. _I don't have to beat down her monster after all! One of Necros' requirements for being on the field is that all five pieces of Exodia are in her Graveyard!_

"My turn! Spell Card! Monster Reborn! I will use it to revive one of your pieces of Exodia, thus killing your Necros!"

"Eh, if only it was so easy. Trap Card, Open! Horn of Heaven! By sacrificing my face down monster, I can negate your summoning of one of my pieces and protect my Necros." Re'-Sha flipped her hand through her hair as she finished talking.

Terry clenched his teeth, his every move was being countered. _She's just toying with me!_

"I'll set a reverse card and a reverse monster." Said Terry, the confidence audibly draining from his voice.

"He he, my turn," said Re'-Sha. "And during my Standby Phase, not only does Necros grow stronger, (4800/0) but my Life Points go up to 5750 as well! I will use this turn to attack your reverse monster (?) with Necros (4800/0). I will also set one more reverse card and end my turn there."

Terry tossed the monster card into his graveyard and drew his next card. He looked at Re'-Sha's recently set reverse card, knowing it was something that would stop any play he might think of. He hung his head and ended his turn without doing anything.

"My turn!" said Re'-Sha, looking down at her card and smiling. "Pity, seems that you ran out of monsters to protect yourself…My Standby Phase again passes and my monster 5300/0 and my Life Points go up (6750)! Trap Card, Open! Call of the Haunted!

"Call of the Haunted lets me Special Summon 1 monster from my graveyard in attack mode. I'll call back my Blood Vors (1900/1200) and sacrifice it to summon Catapult Turtle (1000/2000) in attack mode! Catapult Turtle lets me sacrifice one monster on my field and inflict half its attack power as direct damage to my opponent. You might have some kind of trap set if I attack so I'll end it for you this way. I will sacrifice my Necros (5300/0) to Catapult Turtle to do 2650 damage to you!"

"You really think so?"

"What?"

"Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared! Set card, open! Curse of Pain!"

"Your lust for a win blinded you! Curse of Pain negates the effect of a card that does damage to me and does it to you instead! Now your main monster is gone and you have taken 2650 points of damage, dropping you to back to 4100!" Terry exclaimed, potency and hope coming back to him.

RE'-SHA: 4100

TERRY: 2600

"But that also leaves you vulnerable now. My turn! I'll set a reverse card and use the special effect to summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight! (2300/2100)" Terry called out.

"Swift Gaia can be Normal Summoned without a sacrifice if it's the only monster in my hand. With only the Catapult Turtle (1000/2000) out to defend your Life Points, I will attack it with Gaia (2300/2100) to take you down to 2900 Life Points!" Terry said with a smile again creasing his face but Re'-Sha was full of fury, she couldn't believe that she got suckered into that trap.

RE'-SHA: 2900

TERRY: 2600

"You might have destroyed my Necros, but you also bring that hostage closer and closer to death. You can't beat me or let me win without someone dying."

"You think so? I have no intention of letting anyone die today!"

"What do you mean?" Re'-Sha asked, leaning forward a bit.

"I will beat you AND I will save those hostages!"

Re'-Sha had the match in her hands for most of the duel but now she was on the receiving end. She had lost her main monster and without any monsters out on her field, it would only take another shot from Gaia to finish the duel for her. _I haven't come this far to lose to him!_ she thought to herself.

"My turn," she said through clenched teeth as she glanced at Terry. No cards in his hand, he was sitting there arms crossed and with a smirk on his face. She looked through her hand and looked for a strategy. She knew that there was another Necros in her deck but she needed it's ritual. She brushed that off, it would take too much time to find it and at this rate, this duel was going to be decided in the next few turns anyhow. But there was something else that she could do however and that put a smile on her face.

Terry looked at Re'-Sha and her smile which only meant trouble for him. She definitely knew how to play and this duel has been tough the whole way but he had a slight lead now, if only by emotion.

"I will set a reverse monster and set one reverse card for this turn." She said, slipping her cards onto the table.

Terry hesitated before drawing his next card, thinking of what that reverse card might be. _I have no cards in my hand, and if that card on Re'-Sha's field is a Trap Card, I have nothing to fight it with. If Gaia dies, I have nothing to defend my Life Points. But what if it's nothing? The one card I fear is another Pact with Exodia. If another Necros hits the field, I'm sunk._ He drew his next card.

"I will set this reverse monster and end my turn." Terry said.

"Heh, you could have attacked, maybe you could have won right then."

"I'll look after my own, Re'-Sha."

"Wise boy…My turn." she said and plucked a card from her hand and flashed a wicked grin to Terry.

"My card is Ebikyo Drakmord! This Equip Spell Card keeps your monster that I equip with this from attacking. As well, at the end of the second turn after I play this card, I can destroy the equipped monster and return this card to my hand. My target is your enhanced Knight! In two turns, your monster will die and you will have nothing to defend yourself with." Re'-Sha fully believed that Terry couldn't escape this situation, even with two turns to work with.

Terry could not believe his luck, not only was she right this time, but he had no cards in his hand; the odds were against him that he would draw a monster. And he does not have any way to destroy the virus before two turns pass in his hand. His next card would be critical. He set his hand onto his deck and paused before drawing his next card. He looked down at his Millennium Puzzle hanging from his neck and said a silent prayer to anyone that happened to be listening. He quickly pulled his next card from his deck and looked at it. He said nothing as he summoned his monster that he just drew in defense mode, Maryoukutai.

Re'-Sha looked at Terry's new monster card carefully as she silently took her next turn and grinned again as she then added the card to her hand and plucked another out. She explained that she knew Maryoukutai's effect. Only on her turn, he could sacrifice that monster to negate the activation of a Spell Card and destroy it. Then she looked down at her hand for a moment before speaking.

"I underestimated you and it cost me one of my best monsters…" she said aloud.

"That you did, bet it must be eating you up on the inside, letting a little 'amateur' like me make a fool of you." jeered Terry.

"Shut up! It's my turn and I have just what I need to beat you," she said, holding the card she plucked confidently, "I play this magic card, Pact of Exoida!"

"You have to be kidding," said Terry. "I activate the effect of Maryoukutai!"

"Heh, who cares? Maybe you should since that negation might have cost you. I'll summon Mimic Illusionist!"

Type: Effect Monster

Light/Magic User/1/0/0

Effect: When this monster is Summoned, Reverse Summoned, or

Special Summoned, this monster's attack and defense strengths

become the base ones of 1 of your opponent's monsters.

"Now that your Maryoukutai (900/900) is gone, I will mimic your Knight and take on it's attack and defense strengths. When it dies at the end of my next turn, I will have the advantage again. But it's your turn now, do what you can little boy." Re'-Sha said, flipping her hand through her hair again.

"No."

"Hmm?"

"No, you will not have an advantage."

"And why not?"

"Have you forgotten about my reverse monster?"

"Peh, it cant do anything to stop me from attacking you."

Terry placed his hand over the face-down monster, "Believe what you want to believe, but I swear to you right now, you will not beat me! I will show you my monster, one of my keys, Kaizer Seahorse!"

"With this monster, I can make one of my sacrifices count as two for a light-type monster. But for this monster, I must utilize THREE sacrifices to bring out his full potential. I call upon Gilford the Lightning! (2800/1400)"

Re'-Sha is less than pleased with herself, at the end of this turn, his Dark Knight would have died but now because she neglected that face-down monster, a even better monster has taken it's place.

"With the special effect of Gilford, I will destroy that mimicking monster and then attack you directly! You now only have 100 Life Points left and not one monster to defend yourself. I will set one card face down to end my turn."

RE'-SHA: 100

TERRY: 2600

Terry was confident in his plan but was not oblivious to the cries yelling out blindly behind him as Re'-Sha's 'counter' was within inches of having that hypothermic needle placed into her. Terry heard every whimper and every sniffle of the hostage that he had effectively controlled. His every move decided if that hostage would live or die. He had faith in himself and he would do whatever it took to win.

Or he would die before he would let an innocent be killed.

Re'-Sha gritted her teeth and snarled toward Terry, who was staring right into her eyes but had a look of total seriousness over his face. She was only a hand slap away from losing this duel, she had to find a way to win. He was so confident that he was in control of this duel and it made her skin warm and her eyes red seeing any trace of confidence in this boy. She drew her next card.

"CHANGE OF HEART!" Re'-Sha yelled out as she held that card just drawn and placed it onto her field.

"I will now take control of your warrior and use it to deal the final blow! Attack!"

"Trap Card, Open! Mask of Weakness!" Terry said, quickly flipping over his Trap Card.

"Meh, what a pathetic counter. So you only have 500 Life Points left…and only one more hit before you will lose. I can find a way to hit you for 500 points in the next turn." she stated.

RE'-SHA: 100

TERRY: 500

"No, you do not have a next turn."

"What?" she asked.

"This duel….it ends now. This card is the card I was waiting to play. All you had to do was attack me so I could complete my strategy." said Terry, holding up a single card in his hand.

Re'-Sha looked onto this card with interest. She and him were both only a swipe away from losing. What possible card could he have that would make him even more confident?

"Final Turn!" Terry exclaimed as he drew and picked a card in his hand, the back of the card only showing to Re'-Sha. He knew that he wouldn't lose with this card but he was also not sure if the hostages would be safe and if his plan would work.

"My card is….."started Terry and slowly turned the card toward Re'-Sha. She looked at the card as he turned it and made out design of the card, a magic card that had three red beings standing in front of a wall of fire.

"Tremendous Fire!" said Terry.

As Terry played his card, his attention immediately turned toward the two hostages tied to the machine and watched intently. Both were very close to being stabbed by the needles but neither needle was moving. Several tense moments passed while he and the hostages watched the needles. There was no sign of movement. His plan worked!

RE'-SHA: 0

TERRY: 0

Re'-Sha was in a fit of silent rage though, she had been tricked. No, she had been played! Since neither one of them lost, and the duel ended in a draw, there wasn't a loser for the machine to kill. Terry had doubly humiliated her, by saving the hostages and by beating her. She had failed and failed miserably as well.

Terry turned back toward Re'-Sha and exhaled a sigh of relief and smirked at her.

"Even though we've tied, I can say that you lost. So what do you have to say, anything?" mocked Terry. He looked upon her like she was a child that had just been scolded by it's mother and reveled in the feeling.

Re'-Sha looked at Terry, no emotion showing over her face. Just staring blankly at him when she broke a small smile out of her face. A light began to shine from her chest, an eerie golden glow that just got larger and brighter until it got unbearable to look at and Terry shielded his eyes with his arms but it made little difference. The light filled his eyes even with them closed. Slowly the light began to fade away and the grey darkness of the room filled it yet again.

"What was that!" asked Terry, his eyes still growing accustomed to the dark again.

"Let's just say it was…magic. A simple little trick that you are sure to find interesting." replied Re'-Sha, her arms out to her sides.

"What do you mean? There's no such thing as magic." said Terry.

"Isn't there? You understand so little." Re'-Sha said, rising from her chair with her arms still extended. "I failed this time, I did not beat you and see you bow in defeat as I would have wished. But there are other ways to win."

"Speak so I can understand you!" exclaimed Terry.

Just as he said this, Re'-Sha ducked her head and started to chuckle. She did this for a few moments and Terry just looked at her wondering what she was doing. The table was blocking his view so he didn't notice until the last moment that her body, from her feet up, was starting to disappear. Terry got up out of his chair and got around to Re'-Sha's side of the table and saw that only her upper torso was still visable but it was fading away as well.

"What the hell is this!" asked Terry.

"Oh it's a simple magic trick."

"What are you doing? What was that light?"

Re'-Shas expression became much more serious and her eyes flared at him as the rest of her body continued to disappear.

"You'll find out what 'that light' was in enough time. For now, don't worry about it. There will be much more pressing things that will be happening to you. But I will be watching and waiting for you, heh. I came to destroy you and I will not rest until I do that and I fufill my mission."

"What mission?" said Terry, Re'-Shas body almost totally gone and only her head and some of her chest remained.

"My mission to attain total power and rewrite Future History. To rewrite YOUR Future History and kill you!" Re'-Sha said as the final parts of her body soon faded away and Terry was alone. Confused and alone.

* * *

_We'll we've hit the end of Chapter 5 and our villan makes her 'exit - stage left' act. Re'-Sha, which is pronounced Ree-Shaa, will be seen later on as she plays a pivotal role in the upcoming events surrounding our hero. Well now that that's been said, and this is a dual update, onto the next one!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	6. Aftermath

_Disclaimer: 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, and i still dont own anything worth much. Yeah, and i dont own Yu-Gi-Oh! either. So sue me...WAIT! I TAKE THAT BACK!_

_So the second part of the dual update. The duel is over and a new proposition for our friends comes up. But not before were introduced to a new character and reintroduced to another!_

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 6: Aftermath

As Terry stood in the empty library, he wondered what Re'-Sha meant, what could she have meant by wanting to 'attain total power and rewrite Future History'. He had to chuckle to himself, it sounded like some kind of a plot from a superhero cartoon. But what made it so serious to him was the fact that she was fully intent on killing him, to the point of almost forcing him to inadvertently kill someone that he didn't even know. He slumped back into his chair and started to relax, relieved that the situation was over.

Jamie Cantou, along with Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins, were both watching the news at Jamie's house about the hostage situation with keen interest. They had been watching for a while and figured that Terry was down there since they could not call him at his house.

"Man, I never thought I'd see people being held hostage so someone could duel somebody." said Knowledge, laid out on the floor in front of the TV.

"Me either. Watch, this whole thing is gonna make soccer mom's all over so paranoid that no one will be able to duel anymore." said Jamie.

"I don't think it's going to get that serious." replied Knowledge.

"Did they say anything else about who they sent in?"

"Naw, I hope he or she was good. For those hostages sakes…." Knowledge trailed off.

Jamie's phone rang and as he walked out of the room to grab it he says, "Well I guess if they had sent you in there, we wouldn't have a thing to worry about, right?"

"That's right!"

"And just how many times have we beat you!" Jamie laughed.

Knowledge only grunted. He was right but he was a better player now. But he still felt that Terry still that that edge against him. And Terry did have that 'miracle' thing working for him when he really needed one. They both worked hard when they played but it was always Terry that came out on top against him. It sometimes was frustrating to feel that you were better than someone but always seemed to lose but they were friends and he just committed himself to becoming better. That's the way he expected that Jamie felt, even though him and Terry had played against each other a number of times and there was no one person that was better between them. It made him wonder what would have happened if Jamie was in that situation with the hostages or even Terry.

"You've got to be kidding!" Knowledge heard Jamie yell from in his house somewhere. He got off the floor and stood up.

"Knowledge, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Want me to go with you?"

"No, I got something that I got to go see."

"What is it?"

Jamie paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to tell him. "Nothing, I'll be back in a few." he said as he left out of the house.

* * *

Terry was tired and in desperate need of a drink of some kind and sleep. He had been put in the back of an ambulance for some little check up on him. He recalled the events after the duel with Re'-Sha ended.

The police had decided that they were not going to wait any longer and headed in to find the hostage taker gone, a scattered deck of cards and Terry and the hostages. It seems that soon after they had let Terry go inside of the library, the wire that they had placed on him stopped working. When they checked out the wire, they found that the cable to the transmitter was severed. Terry figured that when she tied him down after he got in, one of those wires that tied him up cut his wire. In any case, the whole time they were dueling they were waiting and deciding on what to do until they decided they wanted to go in pretty soon after Re'-Sha disappeared. They checked out all the hostages and besides some people with some blood loss or just some panicked people, they were all fine. Nothing that wasn't curable by a hospital stay. For some reason, they decided to conceal Terry leaving the building. It made no sense to him but he was just glad to have it all over and done with.

Terry got the OK from the ambulance nurses that he was fine and got up off the gurney and stretched him limbs. He looked around for his dueling deck and his puzzle, grabbed them, and stepped out of the ambulance. They had parked a little ways from the scene where they were now a bunch of reporters crowding around for a story and looking for the 'kid' that the police sent in for an interview. Terry had to smile to himself as he realized the reason for them concealing him. He was a hero but now had to keep it to himself to keep the police from looking like idiots for sending in kids against a maniac. At least it all worked out in the end.

Terry eyed a bus stop and started walking toward it, wondering on where he should go to. Anywhere was better than here since his job was now over and he couldn't even say anything about it. _Back to living life like I usually do_, he thought. He walked around to the side of the bus shelter where there was a picture laying out all the bus routes and their destinations. But as he looked he saw a flyer that grabbed his attention. He took a look at it and grinned to himself and started walking down the street to a bus stop that would take him to Rolling Stock Sports Cards.

* * *

Jamie looked around at where he was, and hardly could believe that he got called out here. The part of his brain that controlled common sense probably got fried somewhere along the way out to this condemned restaurant. He wished that he could have brought Knowledge out here with him for at least someone to keep him company but he couldn't. And looking at the place where he was supposed to go, he figured that he would be laughing at him for checking into such a obvious trick.

When he answered the phone back at his house, a young female voice answered the phone and started talking about a exclusive one-day event that he had been invited to attend. What really suckered him into this was the fact that the lady talked about this event and the opportunity to grab some of the very rare X cards that Terry had and he wanted. But as he looked around, he saw nothing that even resembled a tournament or a event for Yu-Gi-Oh!. _Boy, I got to be the biggest dope in the world right now_, he thought to himself.

Jamie began to walk away and was pretty disappointed in himself that he would be tricked like that but then his sixth sense kicked in. He felt that he was being watched. He looked around and besides the restaurant that he had left behind, the rest of the buildings were lived in and there were a few people doing tasks out on the streets. But he could not shake that feeling that he was being watched, maybe followed. He continued walking looking out of the corners of his eyes at people that he passed and looking back behind him every now and then. But when he turned to look back ahead of him, a man leaning against the side of a building caught his eye. What stood out about him was the fact that he was totally dressed in black garb, jet black baggy jeans with a long sleeve black shirt and sunglasses. He was of African descent and the fact that he was dressed in all black was interesting but the very noticeable fact that his hair was very long, about shoulder length and golden. More of an orange color but sunlight gave it a golden and blonde look to it. Another odd thing was that the sleeveless shirt he had on had nothing on the chest of it save for two thin red blotches like eyes on them. Jamie continued to walk but as soon as he got near the man he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Something just said to Jamie that he should stop and see what this man has to say. The man looked his way and sized him up briefly. He got off of the wall and started walking toward Jamie.

* * *

Knowledge was watching the very end of the news about the hostage situation that had happened downtown but was rapidly losing interest. It was more about summaries of the events of the day and one or two interviews with people that had been there all day. He was bored and with Jamie gone to wherever he went and Terry gone, he had nothing at all to do.

He got out of the chair he had been sitting in and stretched his limbs, hearing the cracks throughout his body and felt very sleepy afterwards. He slumped back into the chair and was pretty content to use it for a nice little nap. There was nothing else happening new with the news and it was on a commercial break. Knowledge thought about changing the channel when a new commercial that he hadn't seen came on and caught his attention and thought that Terry and Jamie wouldn't believe this.

* * *

Terry got off the bus and sprinted the distance from there to Rolling Stock, which as he expected, was nearing capacity and was packed with teenagers. Terry maneuvered through the crowd toward the front desk and saw that RJ was indeed there and also 2 of his other store workers that he saw very rarely.

"RJ!" Terry called out still working to get to the front.

"Yo Terry, bout time your slow self showed up." RJ waved his hand and peered over the crowd of kids to see Terry fighting to get to the front.

"So is this thing for real? There's a new Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament starting? City wide?" Terry said, finally getting up to the counter.

"No, I've just got all these kids in here to keep the place warm. YES, there's a new tournament. You entering?"

"Naw, im just here to help with the heating. Can't believe you'd ask something like that." Terry laughed.

"Well I figured you'd want to sign up so I got you all registered. So…you want it?" RJ said, motioning toward a large rectangular box that was sitting on the counter. There were dozens of others stacked behind his counter and Terry knew exactly what they were. Terry held out his hands expectantly and RJ dropped one brand spanking new, Upperdeck endorsed, Duel Disk into his hands. Like a kid on Christmas, Terry ripped the box open and stuffed the papers that looked like instructions into his pockets and tossed the Styrofoam away and gazed his eyes on an actual real life Duel Disk.

RJ looked at Terry with a little envy in his heart. He had known about this tournament since a few weeks ago but couldn't say anything. But he had never expected the release of actual working Duel Disks. He had heard rumors about such from Knowledge but they both didn't figure Upperdeck had what it took to do it. Actually the disks were made by a company called Canyon Unlimited that did a lot with game console companies like Sony and Nintendo but were also in the business of optical technology. Holograms for instance. The fact that the Duel Disks work wasn't the real puzzle but how they kept it so under wraps and actually have enough disks to meet the demand of duelists.

Terry meantime slided the Duel Disk onto his arm and was a little surprised at how light they had managed to make it. It did have some weight to it but nothing like he expected. It was a near perfect replica of the ones from the animated series. The two pieces of the field were resting on the sides of the center part where the graveyard, life point counter and magic/trap switches sat. Something new to it was the addition of a switch near the screen for the Life Points that was labeled in a peel-away sticker 'Locator'. Terry briefly wondered what this was but then noticed something that was very different. Inscribed on the band where the disk locked onto your arm was an inscription which stated 'Terry Hairston – Duelist No. 001' which Terry figured to be part of the registration.

Terry decided to give the disk a spin and switched it on and watched it fold itself into place and lock down in the dueling position. Terry placed his deck in it's place and saw his Life Point counter flash to 4000. Terry could not help but smile as he just looked down on his new tool for dueling. He was about to get into a match when he saw that one was about to get underway outside so he followed the masses that were filing out of the store to see this. Two young kids decided they wanted to start a duel and were all set to go. One of the kids announced his move that Terry couldn't hear over the other chatter and expected to see a large monster come into view but nothing happened. He could feel the rest of the crowd hold their breath waiting for something to happened but nothing did.

"If any of you had any common sense, you would have read the instructions!" yelled out RJ, waving a copy of the instructions over his head.

Terry reached for his pocket and right on the front page it stated 'Duel Disks will not\ operate until start of the tournament'

* * *

Jamie and his new 'friend' stood alone in the street, the sun setting on the day. They were alone on the street now as most everyone has locked up for the day.

"Jamie?" said the African American.

"Yes," he replied, "Do I know you?"

"I was called here. Someone said something about a place where I could collect some good cards…."

"You're a duelist too?" asked Jamie.

"I guess you don't know who I am. But we both know you're Jamie." he said, not even looking in his direction.

Jamie wasn't too impressed with his new 'friend' as it was. He was a rather cold guy and didn't seem to have a lot of words. He reminded Jamie of a much more serious Terry when he was in a duel, just that this guy didn't ever seem to smile.

Jamie was the first to notice. He didn't really see it though, it was more of instinct and feeling that compelled him to look down the street. But as he looked down the semi-darkened street, he saw a figure walking down the median of the street. He could not make out who it was but it wasn't the person that drew his attention. It was the device on the person's arm. A Duel Disk. A real to life Duel Disk fully lit up and assembled. By this time the other guy had noticed it too and they both stared at it as the person wielding it walked further up the street toward them both.

But then the figure stopped. Jamie took that time to finally look at the person that actually was holding this Duel Disk. It was a female of an Asian descent with jet black hair that shone even in the dim light of dusk. But then something rather unusual happened. The lady took the Duel Disk and seemed to draw some cards from the deck part of the disk. She looked at them for a few moments and then seemed to stare right back at Jamie. Some street lights illuminated the area and as they came on in sucession, Jamie was able to see into the lady's eyes, some very cold, silver eyes.

The lady then took a card from her hand and raised it into the air. He could not see the card itself. Then in a quick flash, the lady looked like she was on fire! But this wasn't normal looking fire, it was black. If burned fiercly around her, but she didn't seem fazed by it, like it didn't hurt. Then a loud voice filled the street…

"Summoned Skull!"

A large darkness formed in front of the woman and it grew larger and taller until it was at least as tall as the streetlamps. Then the darkness began to take a shape, it was big, muscular and had bones on the outside of its body. There were wings sweeping the backside of this thing and the head had horns and its hands were clawed. Even in the dim light, Jamie knew what this was, a real life Summoned Skull. But the excitement of the moment passed as the lady spoke one more word.

"Attack!"

Jamie watched as the demon reared its arms back and lightning crashed around it, lighting up the whole area. _Monsters are not real!_ he said to himself, but that wasn't registering in Jamie's head now as he turned and ran. Sunshine, however, stood his ground, seeming trulyconvinced that this was just what it was supposed to be, an illusion. A holographic battle image. But then the attack from the Summoned Skull caught up with them. It was not an illusion in the least.

Jamie could feel intense heat through his entire body. The shock from the lightning dropped him straight on his face. But it didn't stop there, a sharp and painful tingling continued to stomp all over his body and pain points. He became dizzy from the heat of the lightning bolt and the pain that was dancing through his skin and his brain. His body and his senses were being overwhelmed and they shut down on him. He never knew that he fell away unconscious...

* * *

_Awww, snap! Duel Disks! No more tabletop dueling! And no more tabletop duel writing! Trust me, knowing that you only see the cards and not the monsters themselves, its a little 'odd' to write between those styles. At one point, i thought about doing ALL tabletop but i changed that idea._

_Some might notice some things about the story at this point. One, that the characters don't immediately believe in monsters being real. I try to write these characters 'mostly' real to life. So yeah, some random kid isnt going to believe that monsters are real. Especially one of my main characters on his first time seeing one. _

_Another thing is when they duel, they havent mentioned "Heart of the Cards." or show a belief in it. I personally don't like it and don't use it. If they believe in it, that character almost has to grab a miracle card and pull a miracle win. Like i said, this is 'more' real-to-life so the main differences between characters ability to duel is simply their skill. _

_Well, we've gotten through a couple of duels now and there's news in the upcoming chapters of a tournament with the new Duel Disks! But with Jamie...indisposed...will he be able to make it? Who was the woman? And just who is this new guy? Some small mysteries explained only to create bigger ones in two chapters called The Most Unexpected Visitor and Preparations. But after this final dual update, we will go into single chapter updates, the next one tentively scheduled for 5/10!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	7. The Most Unexpected Visitor

_Disclaimer: ...so even if i called it 'Canneloli-Oh!' i still wouldnt own the exclusive rights to 'it'?_

_Well, i decided to break schedule with a day off from work coming and planning on doing nothing but sleeping. The last of my dual updates, we get introduced to the one anime character that i wanted to have in here. When i first started this story, i wanted to write more about him but even doing that seemed a little out of character. So i did my best to keep him in character. By the way, he's the one guy outside of Yugi that i see in most any fanfiction. You ought to know who it is..._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 7: The Most Unexpected Visitor

Lysol. Terry hated the smell of it, the look of it and the way people smelled of it but that was a minor thing on his mind. He was at the hospital sitting in a chair along with Knowledge, silently watching their friend Jamie as he was still unconscious. They both had slept the night there and were both waiting on their friend to awaken. Terry took a look toward the other patient in the room, a guy about their age, African-American but with gold hair. He seemed to have the same injuries that Jamie had but no one at the hospital knew what actually happened to either of them since they both came in together.

Terry recalled yesterday's events and how he got here….

Terry was disappointed. He wanted to see some monsters come out and do his battling for him but now he had to wait for the start of the tournament. He decided to go back into the card shop and get out of the waning sunlight that was still beating down heat on them all. He found RJ inside the store leaning over his counter with a fan blowing down on him from beside him.

"Wanna share the wealth?" Terry asked, motioning toward the fan.

"Not really, im in a stingy mood today." he replied, wiping the sweat away from his forehead and leaning back down over the counter again.

"Did you get word on when this tournament starts?"

"Tomorrow morning." mumbled RJ, more interested in keeping cool than talking.

Terry decided to leave him alone and started walking around the store. Most of the kids were still outside. Even though the disks still did not work, they decided to play out some duels without the holographs and just using their voices and such. Terry decided to just look over some of the cards for a while before he went back home. He had already had a tiring day already and he really wanted to discuss it with someone. He knew his friends wouldn't tell and he just wanted to get this woman out of his mind. The fact that you were marked for death over something that you're supposedly going to do in the future gave him chills.

"Hey Terry!" called RJ, trying to snap Terry out of whatever daydream he slipped off into. "Telephone," he called, holding the store's cordless up to him.

"Hello?"

-_-Buenos Dias!--_

"What's up Knowledge?"

_--You've heard the news?--_

"I've beat you to it, I've got a brand new Duel Disk strapped to my arm and it's looking very pretty right now." Terry said, trying to tease Knowledge.

_--How do you do that!--_

"I've got my ways, im not even in the mood for dueling right now though. It's been a real long day and im glad it's almost over."

_--Yeah man, where were you today man? Did you see the news about the situation at the library?--_

Terry paused for a minute. He did want to tell him about it but RJ was not particular about who and what he talked about.

"Yeah, I was….i was there in the middle of it. It was really--"

_--Hang on man, someone's on the other line.--_

Terry shouldered the cordless and waited on his friend. While he waited, he got RJ to give him two extra Duel Disks for Knowledge and Jamie since neither of them would get there before closing. It would give them something to toy with and talk about tonight.

_--Terry!_-- Knowledge yelled into the phone, surprising Terry. When Terry listened in closer to the phone, he could hear that Knowledge had put whoever he was talking to on three-way with him.

"Yeah, I'm here."

_--OK, go ahead.-- _said Knowledge

--_Hello?--_ said a new voice, a grown up female voice.

"Yes?" said Terry.

_--I was calling the Cantou house to inform you that Jamie seems to have had an accident. He was admitted to our hospital this evening with mild burns and cuts but was unconscious as well.--_

That pretty much explained where they were at now. Terry and Knowledge had spent the night at the hospital and both of them were not planning to leave until their friend woke up and explained what happened to him. Earlier, Knowledge had cracked open the box to his new Duel Disk and slided it home onto his arm. Were it not for the situation, Terry knows he would have been a lot more excited about it. He was too up until he heard this news and right then, Yu-Gi-Oh! didn't mean anything to either of them as they waited on their friend to regain consciousness. They both nodded off to another nap.

He awoke slowly, like from a very deep sleep. He tried to open his eyes but even the timid lights of this room blinded him so he closed his eyes again and tried to adjust his eyes slowly. As he laid there, he recalled how he got to the hospital and the attack that put him out. _I've never experienced something like that before_ he thought to himself. _An actual Summoned Skull, and it could have killed me. I could have been killed._

He rolled over and saw the guy he was with that night and also two other guys that had the new Duel Disks strapped to their arms. _So they're duelists?_ he thought. He looked them over for a moment but then looked at Terry for another moment. _It's him! The top ranked duelist for the tournament. I'll destroy him with my own hands. But I will defeat anyone that stands against me. I will take my rightful place as the King of Games. And…_ he thought looking straight toward Terry._I will defeat any duelist that can challenge me. Anyone._

Knowledge was the first one to wake up. He nodded his head over toward where Terry was still sleeping, a little of a snore coming from him. He felt so tired that he didn't even want to get out of his chair so he just slumped back into his chair and looked at the light coming in from the window behind him.

"No fair, why you got one?"

"AAAH!" yelled Knowledge. Terry shot straight up in his chair, shocked from the yell that Knowledge just let out. Knowledge was just staring straight ahead at the bed and as Terry turned, he saw a smiling Jamie awake in his bed.

"Jamie! You're awake!" shouted Terry.

"Man, how could I not be? Can I rent you guys out as an alarm clock?"

Terry and Knowledge ignored that and went over and embraced their friend. He was still hooked to a few IV things and stuff but he was looking alright and a lot better. A nurse came by and checked up on his condition while Terry and Knowledge gave him his due, his new Duel Disk. Jamie decided to leave it in its box until the start of the tournament.

"So what happened to you Jamie? How'd you end up like this?" Terry asked.

"I don't want to say, you'll all think im crazy." he said, more referring to the nurse checking his blood pressure than Terry and Knowledge.

"Trust me," said Terry with a smile, "I've had such a messed up day that I willing to believe anything. I could believe almost anything right now."

Jamie glanced at the nurse and Terry and Knowledge picked up on it immediately. Jamie didn't want to tell them in front of the nurse so they all waited as she finished her check-up pretty quickly and left. Terry and Knowledge stood alongside Jamie's bed, their backs to the window.

"OK, this is what happened. I was walking around by this old restaurant looking for someone that promised me a chance to get some good cards. Well, there wasn't anyone there but pretty soon, some woman came up to us and had one of the new Duel Disks on her arm," Jamie started to lower his voice, trying to keep what he was about to say between the two of them. "But then a monster appeared. A real live Summoned Skull and it attacked me!"

Knowledge's first instinct was to tell Jamie that he was full of something but that look in Jamie's eyes, they were slightly reddened and definitely jittery, told him that he was convinced he was attacked by a Summoned Skull. But it just was not possible. Knowledge only dealt with what he could understand and knew that, from a little research after learning about the Duel Disks, that Upperdeck could not put in the pain sensors. There was a risk that the system could be tampered with and the person on the receiving end of the sensors could be put into serious pain and risk serious injury. Therefore, they were not included in the design but the technology did exist for such a thing. Was it possible that Jamie got attacked by a model that was equipped with that system? No, he thought to himself. Jamie would have had to have a Duel Disk of his own and he just got his own today. It didn't make sense, how could a monster actually come to life?

"What do you mean, 'us'?" Terry asked.

"Me and this guy I met, a guy with gold hair."

"You mean –" Terry started about to point out the other patient in the room that he noticed earlier but he was gone. Maybe he checked out already, he thought to himself.

"Didn't catch his name but he was a guy full of sunshine and happy thoughts," Jamie said sarcastically.

"Might have been the guy we saw in here a while ago. He fits how you describe him but he's gone now." said Terry, motioning toward the now empty hospital bed.

"Jamie, you remember what this woman looked like?" asked Knowledge, "Is there anything you can tell us so we can find her?"

"Sorry man, I cant remember anything. Wait, I do remember one thing. She had these creepy silvery eyes. I've never seen –"

"S-silver?" interrupted Terry, some concern showing in his face. "Are you certain, 100 certain that they were silver?"

Knowledge looked at Terry and saw that he was really interested in these eyes of this woman. He wondered what he knew.

"Yeah man, I'd never forget something like that for the rest of my life." said Jamie, leaning against his pillow and gazing toward the ceiling.

Terry felt sick. He leaned backwards and slumped into a chair and leaned his head back, his stomach in knots and his heart beating faster. Re'-Sha had come back and came after one of his friends. It could have only been her. Terry's heart continued to race but his stomach settled down. Instead, his muscles tightened and his breathing deepened as his new found anger began to rise. Instead of taking out her business with him, she took it to his friends. What gave her that right, he thought to himself. What right did she have to mess with his friends, they could have been killed. Terry clenched his fist in anger and swore to himself that he would not let this slide. Normally he should forgive but what Re'-Sha has done is unforgivable.

"Hey, Terry. What's the matter?" asked Jamie.

Terry lowered his head and told Knowledge to check and make sure that there wernt any nurses around or anything. After a quick check, he said it was all clear and sat down in his chair. Terry then told them the story of how he was at the library dueling against Re'-Sha and her belief that Terry had a role to play in Future History. When he finished, Knowledge and Jamie were both pretty drained. It's not everyday that some crazy woman has it in for you for something that you haven't even done yet.

"So what happens now?" asked Jamie?

"Nothing." said Terry. "There's nothing that we can do. We don't know where she is and no one would believe us with the stuff that has been happening. Best bet would be to do what we normally do and take it from there. If she wants me bad enough, she'll find a way to get to me…."

A light knock came from the door and Knowledge jumped up to answer it. Terry remained seated trying to think of what to do with this situation when he looked up and saw Knowledge just frozen in the doorway. He took a few steps back after a few moments.

"I-it's….it's not….possible….you're.." Knowledge said, utter surprise and shock written all over his face. Then a figure walked past him into the room and the same look slapped itself over Jamie and Terry's faces simultaneously.

"Hello Terry. I have much to tell you."

Terry looked this man over. A man dressed in a sand brown outer shawl with soft, sandy shoes that complimented the man's brown skin. A white turban wrapped itself around the man's head and ears. The man's gaze was piercing yet mysterious at the same time, his ice blue eyes staring right into Terry's.

The Egyptian servant to the God of Death, Annubis.

Shadi.

All two teenagers and one semiadult were staring at this man as if he shouldn't be there. And he really shouldn't be. Shadi, he's a fictional character in a story. He isn't a real person but there he was, just as they see him in the anime and manga. They watched as he strolled into the room, barely making a noise as he stepped across the linoleum floor and stopped in front of the still sitting and gawking Terry.

"So you are the one, the one that Re'-Sha sought to destroy. You have certainly proved that you are strong enough to prevent this new future from manifesting itself." said Shadi.

"New future? What are you talking about?" Terry said.

"Just what we were about to ask." Said Jamie, him and Knowledge looking on with a lot of interest.

"This young man," said Shadi motioning toward Terry, "will have to prevent a disaster from happening. The duel that you just had with Re'-Sha is only a prelude to what she is really after."

"Who is Re'-Sha anyway? And why does she want me dead so badly?" asked Terry.

"To explain that, we must go back to the times of the Ancient Egyptians and Pharoahs." Started Shadi, closing his eyes as he began his story, "In those times, Egyptians were considered to be the closest a man could come to living with Gods. They were a culture of higher education, religion and considerable wealth. They lived their lives for the benefit of others and were contented in their lives as time went by."

"In their sect of religion were a group of priests that were considered blessed by their Gods. Those priests were truly the favorites of the Gods as they were given a gift to see as Gods saw, to be able to see into the future. Because of these priests, it was how the Egyptians became so prosperous. But the priests were humble with the use of their gift; they used it to forecast their crops or problems within their people and communities. It was considered forbidden to use such a power for personal gain. Such power would truly make a man a God."

"However, as sure as winter turns to spring, there arose a problem. Within the group of priests was one that became infatuated with his power. He abused his power to view the future of things the priests deemed forbidden. He saw into his own future. This priest had a daughter that he pampered monetarily but raised strictly and coldly. The priest saw that his child would die an early death. He was shattered, torn between allowing the future to play its course or to intervene and allow his daughter to live. In the end, he chose to save his daughter."

"My master, Annubis was displeased with this. He was never very trusting of the heart of men and felt that all hearts would truly choose to better themselves than to better each other. He brought down a plague upon the people for the selfishness of one man. Many people died and became incurablely ill. The people found out that the priest was the source of their pain and sought to have him killed. He fled from them and became an exile. Annubis still was not convinced the people had suffered enough and passed judgment on the Priest's daughter to never know rest. She lived the course of her life and died but her spirit continued to wander the Earth, tormenting the priest's that her father was with. Her soul had no home to go to, it frustrated and infuriated her that Annubis would pass such a judgment on her. Anger and fury burned in her soul and she used it to torment anyone connected to her father."

"Finally, the priest's thought to seal the girl's soul away and as such, they didn't endure the torment that she put upon the people. However, the stone had been cast and the Gods were not happy that their gift had been abused. They revoked the ability to see as Gods to an extent. They could only now see an immediate future that only related to themselves. Gone was the power to better their people and they became full of greed and sin. It was the doing in of their own people; the actions of a few destroyed the many."

Terry piped up quickly, "But how does this all have anything to do with my situation with Re'-Sha?"

Shadi opened his eyes again and looked out the window, straight into the afternoon sun. "The priest's that worked to seal the soul of that girl away….it was sealed into an object that was never meant to be found."

"An object?" said Jamie.

"Yes," said Shadi, "a Millennium Item."

"WHAT?" said Jamie, Knowledge and Terry in unison, shock registering though their voices.

"There is a real Millennium Item out there?" Terry said, gripping his prop Millennium Puzzle in his hands.

Shadi took his head away from the sun and looked straight at Terry. "You asked me why she seems to want you dead. I will tell you."

"Re-'Sha inherited the ability to see as Gods see. That soul has been living on this Earth for thousands of years and it seeks an end now. She wants to put an end to this once and for all, by utilizing the Millennium Items."

"Well, what's the problem with that?" Knowledge asked.

Shadi looked toward Knowledge and said, "In doing so, she would accomplish two things. She would undo history as well as defile the judgment of Annubis. Neither of which is acceptable."

Terry let out a long sigh, "But what does all of this, Re'-Sha, the Millennium Ring, Annubis, what does it all have to do with ME?"

"You are destined to protect Future History." Said Shadi

"Destined?" asked Knowledge "How is he destined to protect something that hasn't happened yet?"

Shadi looked at Knowledge almost face to face, seemingly a little annoyed with that question.

"If Future History had not have been changed already, my intervention would have been unnecessary." Knowledge opened his mouth to speak again but Shadi cut him off. "Did you not wonder why Re'-Sha wanted your friend dead in the first place? She saw that it was your friend that would stop her if she had gone along as she would have. She seeks to remove this obstacle."

"Terry, Future History has changed and because it has, it's writing itself truly as we take each step. It's now your responsibility to set things into an order and to do this, my master has a tool to help you." Shadi pointed toward the small table by the wall by the window and there sat a golden box, emblazoned with small pictures along the sides of it. It was rather small for a box but it also had the Eye of Annubis on it as well, the mark that was on all of the Millennium Items. But what got everyone's attention was how it reminded them of another type of box. Terry and Knowledge walked past Shadi and stared down at the box. Terry made the first move and opened it. The lid was only cracked open but light shone out from the inside filling Terry's eyes with a soft glow of light. He took the lid completely off and inside were puzzle pieces, small gold puzzle pieces and it hit Terry what this was. His heart skipped a beat and his hands became tingly and warm.

"Is this…." Started Terry.

"That," said Shadi, "is the Millennium Puzzle."

"Then, is there a spirit in this puzzle too?" asked Terry.

"Heh," smirked Shadi, and all three took notice of the man that never smiles. "Everything is not as it seems. I will tell you this. There are indeed 7 Millennium Items but they are guarded. She needs to gather all of the Millennium Items. She already has the Ring and you now have the Puzzle. The direct descendants to the priests that were given the gift to see as Gods see have gathered here in this city for this tournament. In order to obtain the items from them, you must defeat them. You cannot avoid this obligation. If you do, a terrible catastrophe will fall onto the world. You must and you will take on this task."

Terry could barely hear Shadi as he was finishing that statement and as he turned to ask him, he was gone.

Terry looked around at his friends and exhaled a long sigh. Within the last 2 days, his life had totally changed and it seems for the worse and more difficult. The three of them were silent, still trying to let what just happened sink into their heads. On the table still sat the puzzle box to the Millennium Puzzle, the lid now closed but a shine still coming off the outsides of it.

"Well," started Knowledge, "do we all believe him?"

All three of them nodded their heads yes.

"Why is all this happening to me?" Terry asked, leaning against the wall opposite of Jamie's bed, his eyes rolled into his head. "I never asked for all of this, especially not to be the target of some woman's hit list or to have the God of Death helping me defeat her."

A hand placed itself on Terry's shoulder and Terry saw Jamie, hospital gown on and all, standing in front of him.

"Terry, I can't imagine how you feel right now but I know that's it's a terrible amount of pressure for one person. But like Shadi said, you must do this. I don't want to find out what might happen if you decide to not do it. Just remember this, we can't run from who we are, destiny has chosen this for us."

"We can't run from who we are….destiny has chosen this…for us." Terry said to himself. It made sense to him as he thought about it. He had been chosen and he had to fulfill his destiny, fulfill his Future History. If there was someone else that could have done this, he truly believed in his heart that he would have still asked for this responsibility. There wasn't anything else that he would rather do yet the more that he thought about it, the more daunting the task became. A real Millennium Puzzle that was waiting to be solved and more Millennium Items to collect plus he has to find a way to stop Re'-Sha. It seemed like an impossible task to do it all. But he remembered what Jamie had said to him, that he can't run from who he is.

_Who am I actually?_ he thought to himself. _I don't think that im all that special or anything. But I must be to have been dropped with this kind of assignment. But what does that make me, who am i?_ He thought about it some more, nothing really came to his head. He reached to put his hands into his pocket and his arm brushed against the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. He looked down at it and stared into the eye on the front of it.

_I'm Terry Hairston. It's all I can be._ He decided.

Terry looked back at Jamie, "Thanks man, I needed that."

"Not a problem." Jamie said, walking back toward his bed.

"Hey Jamie," said Knowledge, "Catchin a breeze, huh?"

"Wha?" said Jamie, not knowing what Knowledge was talking about until he realized that the back of his hospital gown left a lot of his naked backside open. Jamie jumped right back into the bed and covered himself with his sheets, embarrassed as Terry and Knowledge laughed out loud for a good minute or so.

"So what do we do now?" asked Knowledge.

"Well what can we do?" stated Terry, "The tournament doesn't start until tomorrow and there's supposed to be some big announcement by the organiz-NO!"

"What are you-" started Knowledge, then he knew what Terry mean. "Jamie man, where's the damn remote? Where is it!"

Jamie reached behind his pillows and turned on the TV for them, not knowing what has them all excited so he asked them. Terry told him that there was going to be an announcement on TV and to just be watching. True to the word, not too long after watching some useless stuff, a blackout came up and on every single channel appeared a well dressed man standing behind what looked like their city. Music and fireworks rang out and he could see out the hospital window as they exploded in the distance. The man in the suit, obviously some speaker to get everyone excited, began to speak.

"Duelists, thank you for tuning into our live broadcast of the official start of Upperdeck's Battle City Tournament! It's almost evening now but within hours, this city behind me will be filled with duelists fighting for honor. It will be an exciting event and we hope that you will do your very best. We are now going to explain the rules to this tournament."

"You are free to seek out any opponent you wish to duel with in the city. Duels can take place anyplace that you want to now. Each duelist that entered has a Duel Disk and has been registered with us. All duelists that have entered the tournament have been given a number that corresponds with our ranking systems. In other words, the number inscribed into your Duel Disks and your original Puzzle Cards represent your rank in the tournament."

Terry eyes shot open at that comment. On his disk was the number 001! Was he the number 1 ranked duelist in the tournament?

"As I just mentioned, each Duel Disk comes with 1 Puzzle Card. If you haven't found it by now, just eject your card graveyard to examine it. Within this Puzzle Card are the pieces of electronic transmitters. I won't get too technical but this is how the Puzzle Card system will work. Your goal in the tournament it to obtain 6 Puzzle Cards to qualify yourself for the finals but it will be more difficult. Whenever a duelist obtains 6 Puzzle Cards and enters them into their Duel Disk, a signal is sent that only makes that particular duelist eligible. Once the signal is received by us, we will lock that duelist in as a finalist."

* * *

Jamie got it immediately. With this new system, time was very much against any duelists looking to enter the finals fast. Since these Puzzle Cards seem to be your ticket, you had to gather them fast before someone else before you does. Wait too long and collect 6 Puzzle Cards and it will be for nothing. All the spaces for the tournament will have been filled. 

And with him now in the hospital, his time already was ticking.

He wanted to compete!

* * *

"Also, when we receive that signal, we will send the location of the finals to that duelist's Duel Disk. That location is secret and is only given to the finalists that earn their 6 Puzzle Cards." 

"Right now, I would like to bring on a special guest to speak now. The three-time winner of the Duel King Tournament, a duelist that has traveled the country on tours with Upperdeck, the current World Champion of Yu-Gi-Oh! and winner of various private and public Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournaments. You might know him better as the King of Games, Lamar Vega!"

Knowledge, Terry and Jamie's eyes lit up at this. All of them had heard of this guy, a duelist that has been ruling the scene since he won the first Duel King Tournament some time ago. He was an intimidating opponent to have to face just because of the pressure of facing a duelist of his level. That and the tales of his favorite monster, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. They also had heard about this tour that he did across the country, how he went to a different tournament site and challenged them. As he took the stage, Jamie let out an audible gasp.

"That's him!" he yelled.

Terry and Knowledge briefly looked at him then back at the screen and watched as a young man stepped up to the stage, clad in a black sleeveless shirt and black pants with a Duel Disk strapped to his left arm. But the most noticeable fact about him was his golden shoulder length hair. Knowledge and Terry both remembered at the same time that this guy fit the description of the guy that Jamie described and who was in this very room not too long ago. He stepped up to the stage and faced toward the cameras and began to speak.

"Duelists from all over the city, you've all been waiting for this moment. The start of the Battle City Tournament! Tomorrow morning, a new dawn will break over the horizon and duelists will fill the streets seeking opponents to compete against. In the end however, only 6 of us will make it to the finals. This tournament will decide who are the strong and who the weak are! The weak have no place in this tournament, fight until you have no regrets and the better player emerges with victory by their side!"

With that, a large shot of the city came up and the skyscrapers that lined the top of the city. In this shot you could see the two identical towers at each end of the city. From both of these towers, named the Millstone Building 1 and 2, you could see almost the entire city from each. They framed up the city pretty nicely in the TV as the fireworks continued to fire off. The cameras panned back to Vega.

"Welcome to Battle City!"

Terry turned back toward the window again looking out and seeing flashes and explosions from rockets. Here he was, about to start a tournament that should have brought so much fun to him and his friends but now he was fighting to save a future. _The future_, he thought to himself. _It's my destiny to protect Future History. So what is my future then?_

* * *

_Kudos to you if you guessed my guest to be Shadi. Seriously, i like the way the guy moves because if you think about it, he's an instigator! Honestly, almost none of the stuff in the anime/manga wouldn't have happened if he hadn't said something!_

_Well, for a Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic, i took my time getting to the Millennium Items but these things are special. They deserve to be introduced in a special way. _

_I wanted to explain one thing about 'why' i wrote out the rules to Battle City. One is that they should be posted. I mean, not EVERYONE has seen all the episodes and read all the manga. Two, for the simple fact that i wanted it known throughout my little universe that everyone knew that Terry was no. 1 and Vega isnt. As he thinks he should be. Besides, isnt it ironic that the King of Games is not ranked as the best one in the tournament?_

_In our next chapter, we'll get into their heads. We've established all our major players, let's see what they're thinking..._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	8. Preparations

_Disclaimer: Oh Grandpa, tell us how you swindled that mean old Kazuki Takahashi out of what was rightfully his and took it for your own and blew it all on the Playstation 34? _

_In layman's terms - a filler chapter. But for an action/adventure fiction, i guess in a way any chapter that doesnt have any action in it is a filler. Or in this case, dueling. Fear not, it's just around the corner. But i want you to understand how these characters work. How they tick. You know, 'Know your enemy...' and all that._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 8: Preparations

_click...snap……..click_

The only noise inside Terry's room was the sound of light breathing and the noises made from him putting together the Millennium Puzzle. The memories of the day and the previous day not even in his focus, his attention fully on the task of completing the puzzle. He sat on his bed all the pieces of the puzzle laid out there and a partially completed puzzle sitting in his lap. Slowly he would pick up a piece and inspect all the edges and corners to it, figuring where it could fit in this complex puzzle. He would test a piece in certain places and make reminders to himself of how that piece looked and how it was shaped. The puzzle itself was somewhere around 1/3 of the way finished but it didn't feel that way. He had completed the base where you could thread a rope or something to wrap around your neck and that was all. The process was slow and agonizing on the mind and body.

Time had lost all meaning to him, his body as close to resting as his mind would allow it. He had been working on the puzzle since he came back from the hospital. Knowledge had left to go home as well and Jamie was trying to get released as soon as possible so he could participate in the tournament. Over to the side of his bed sat his Duel Disk and his newly constructed deck. He figured that Jamie and Knowledge would do the same but he did it also for another reason. Re'-Sha was still out there plotting against him. He needed a strong deck to defeat her as he was barely able to do it last time. And this time, he thought to himself, a tie would not be acceptable. A win or lose situation and it was sure to have some heavy price.

It was funny, he thought to himself as he continued to piece together the puzzle. In the worst case scenario, he might lose his life. He might not live up to the expectation that had been placed on him. But it was odd, he was not afraid to die. _These could be some of my last days but im not afraid to die if I have to. But I won't if I don't have to_.

His thoughts then went to this attack that Jamie and apparently Lamar Vega had experienced. Terry was sure that it was Re-'Sha that was behind it but what really bothered him was why she attacked them. He could understand why she would go after Jamie but not Vega. He never met Vega before in his life and it was only because of the X cards that he was even in that area. It was a reasonable assumption that she had gathered them both there so why would she target him?

While he was doing all this thinking, he had come a little ways along with the puzzle. It was nearly halfway finished now and the edges to the inverted pyramid were becoming visable. The obvious final place for the piece with the Eye of Annubis on it was starting to take shape.

Annubis. Terry then remembered the story that Shadi had told him, of how Re'-Sha had changed Future History and that in the previous one, she had been stopped by him. Did Vega also have something to do with it too?

* * *

Knowledge sat at a desk in his house, browsing through his deck, searching for weaknesses and ways to make up for them. His Duel Disk sat to the side as he scanned through his cards under a small desk lamp. The rest of his room dark, his shifting through the cards made the only noise that filled this room.

_A real Millenium Item..._he thought to himself, _Could it all be some big joke? Could all of this just be some kind of coincidence with Jamie being hurt and Terry getting that puzzle?_ Knowledge's common sense battled against his instincts. Common sense was saying that this all had a better explanation than the one that Shadi offered them. Instinct told him that he should listen to what Shadi said. Terry, a guardian of Future History and some crazy spirit that is intent on killing herself have to have it out to determine the future.

Whether this was actually true or if he was losing his grip on common sense, he did have one thing that he wanted to accomplish in this tournament. He wanted to make an impact in this game. Terry's skills in the game were pretty well noted as were Vega's but his name never came up. Knowledge wanted to make a name for himself. Maybe it is a selfish kind of goal, he thought to himself, but he didn't care. Some things that you want you have to be selfish and self-motivated to get.

Knowledge then began to think about this woman that had Terry so messed up and that got Jamie hurt. Knowledge treasured his friends and to put one of his friends on the hospital was unforgivable. Jamie was the one that really binded the three of them together as friends. Knowledge was also certain that if that had happened to him or Terry, he would feel the same way.

Knowledge stood up from his desk and looked out into the night sky through the window beside his desk. He grabbed his Duel Disk and set it in place on his arm. He picked up his new deck and looked down at them.

He swore right then and there that no matter if what this guy Shadi says is true or not, he will make Re-'Sha pay.

* * *

Somewhere in the city, in a building long condemned and abandoned, sat Re-'Sha, eyes closed, cross-legged and meditating over what she was about to do. Since she had now changed Future History and it is now writing itself now, she could not see the future at all. She already knew of the visit by that bastard Shadi however. Shadi coming to this city meant that he knew about her plan which was unfortunate. But it pleased her to find out that he had brought along the Millennium Puzzle with him. Terry would definitely unlock it for her and unlock the key for her plan. She smiled to herself knowing that Shadi wouldn't dare tell the boy what he should know about herself and the seven Millennium Items.

Now all the pieces were in place. The Five Guardians have arrived and the last Millennium Item has been practically dropped into her hands.

Right then however, she began to sense something. It was a feeling of fore-warning which usually meant that it had something to do with the future. It confused her for a moment, knowing that the future was now unwritten yet she could feel a future event.

Re-'Sha relaxed herself and let all other thoughts slip from her mind. She focused on her breathing and let her body feel very calm and tranquil. Her heart rate lowered significantly and her muscles lost all their strength. In order for her to use the ability of God Sight to its fullest, she had to achieve a coma-like state. She was close to reaching that as her eyelids became heavy even as they were closed. Soon, her body lost all tension and she fell from her spot, her legs splayed out and her arms stretched to either side. Her head felt very light and soon, a white light began to grow from out of the darkness in her eyes. It filled her pupils and she finally achieved God Sight.

The act of God Sight is like dying and looking out on the world in a sense. You can see anything you want to but you cannot do anything to change it. Re-'Sha felt very eased when using God Sight.

Re-'Sha then 'awakened' and found herself surrounded by darkness, a representation of her future. It was unwritten so there was nothing to see but she pressed on and peered off into the darkness. She knew that there was something out there that was calling out at her and she was determined to find out what it was. A light began to shine from Re'-Sha's back and as she turned to look at it, she saw a young boy there glowing in the light. As she looked, she saw it was not the bastard Terry but someone else, a new face to her. She could not see exactly who it was but she could feel a strong sense of anger coming from this person and it was directed at her. She smiled to herself despite not knowing who this person was.

"So you're now a part of my Future History," she said to the illuminated figure, the brightly shining figure of Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins.

* * *

Also inside the city, in a fairly well to do apartment not too far from downtown was Lamar Vega. He sat in a reclining chair in his own living room. In front of him, the TV drowned on lightly but Vega was more into his thoughts than the late shows. He still had the image of an asleep Terry Hairston in his memory.

_It will soon begin_, he thought to himself, _Battle City will start and I will have my chance to take back what is mine. Take back what I 'lost'_…

He remembers back to a day a few months ago when his tour of tournament sites brought him to this city and Rolling Stock.

He didn't look like he did now back then. At that time, his hair was not gold, but a normal black color tied to the back. It was also longer and hung down close to his collarbone.

He had come to the tournament site as a newcomer and as usual a lot of eyes were on the new guy. He easily won over a lot of the younger duelists and worked his way into the finals where he faced off against Terry.

But he got beat. He lost. To someone like him that seeked to become and beat the best, it made his furious. He personally expected better of himself. Because of that loss, he dropped in tournament standings and was only ranked No. 002 in the Battle City tournament. Being ranked No. 002 wasn't anything to be pissed about but in Vega's mind, he was the best. This one loss cost him.

Vega snapped himself out of his past. The past couldn't be changed, the only thing he had to worry about was the future. His own future. The future that he would embrace by defeating the one duelist that ran through his mind.

A clock nearby rang out at 4:00am yet Vega was not in need of sleep. He only thought of Battle City and the one target that he was after.

* * *

Finally.

Terry looked over at his clock and it read 4:00am. In front of him sat a complete Millennium Puzzle save for the piece that had the Eye of Annubis inscribed on it. It's final resting place like the key to an unknown door. Terry stared into that eye on the final piece, as if it could tell him something about what he was about to do. It offered him nothing as far as answers, just more mysteries. Mysteries, he thought to himself as he picked up the final piece and lined it up into its final resting place.

There were so many mysteries to what has been happening to him lately. Some of them not as important as the others but none the less vexing. The biggest one in his mind now was what would happen when he placed this last piece to the Millennium Puzzle into its place. There would be some kind of ramification, there has to be one of some kind. No way something this precious would not come with a high price or consequence. But the more he thought about it, he didn't have much else left to risk losing. He could have very nearly lost his life just the other day, his friends were now at just as much risk as he was. But Jamie and Knowledge both accepted what has been happening and that things would not be normal ever again.

'Normal'. The word never really appealed to Terry. Normal was a consistent routine, a repetitive cycle. That was something that he never wanted to become. This puzzle, as he held the last piece in his hand, would lead him to something that was far from normal. It is a gateway to anything but normality. 'Yes,' he thought to himself as he settled the last piece into its home and completing the Millennium Puzzle.

'Things are going to get really interesting.'

* * *

A figure of a pretty average height but a hefty build stood by Terry's house. He was of an average height but he was a hefty character. That was about all that you could tell of him from first glance.

But from the golden glow that came from all the windows of Terry's house, you were able to peer into what was hidden under that hood. A man with heavily tanned skin and small cheeks peered unwaveringly into that light. His eyes were a shade off of being regarded as charcoal black and they were now illuminated from the light coming from Terry's house.

He understood what that light meant, that someone had completed the Millennium Puzzle. He also understood his place in what was about to come and started to walk toward the light, his intentions to not hold back against Terry…

* * *

_Hmm...you know, rereading this particular chapter for the millionith time, i've come to realize something. I originally designed each of the characters so far as a little piece of me. And now they're 'starting' to speak to me when i write. Sounds crazy but (since i write my chapters well ahead of time, at least by 10) by about this point in the story, i could hit a block, sit back and just think about it. And the right words would come._

_And if you couldnt tell, at this particular point, i had off feelings about Upperdeck. It was around the time that they were'having problems' meeting the demand of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game..._

_Not muchelse to say about this chapter. __Terry, Jamie, Vega, Knowledge, Re'-Sha, they're all getting ready for the Battle City Tournament. But Terry's is about to start a lot sooner than he thought. Some questions to ponder...Who is the guy outside his house? What secrets lay within the Millennium Puzzle? Just what part will Knowledge play in Re'-Sha's future? Can or will Knowledge fufill his vow against the woman? And just what kind of cards will Terry be playing? Or playing against? Check in when a new chapter called The Guardian of the Scale hits. Date? The day after Mother's Day. Hey, i still have to work too!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	9. Terry vs The Guardian of the Scale

_Disclaimer: On my death bed... Guys...i've had a nice life...full life...but there's one thing that i've always wanted...i've always wanted to own the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh!...Can you do that for me?_

_Random guy pulls the plug_

_I don't expect anyone to be upset that im updating MUCH earlier than i had wanted but I had nothing to do and wanted to put another duel out there. Terry meets the Guardian of the Millennium Scale and has a little surprise waiting for him as he starts this duel. And an even nastier one at the end._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 9: The Guardian of the Scale

_Is that it?_ Terry thought to himself. _No strange powers or some new ability?_ He looked over the completed Millennium Puzzle. It did look a lot more detailed than the one he won before. That was about the only difference. Maybe he shouldn't have put too much into it anyway. He recalled what Shadi said about the puzzle, that he shouldn't have expected something like that anyhow.

_Still, might have been cool to have some new power or something…_ he thought. He fished around his desk and found the rope from his old puzzle and threaded it through the loop and knotted it and slipped it around his neck. Still nothing. Maybe he needed to do something to get some reaction out of it. But right then, the only thing he really needed to do was get some sleep if he was going to start early in Battle City tomorrow. He kicked off his shoes and lay down in bed.

_Tweet…….twtt_

Instantly Terry was up and alert. He looked around his room and saw nothing. Nobody there. But he knew that he heard something or someone make that noise. Driven by an instinct, Terry grabbed his new Duel Disk and deck, slipped on some shoes and walked downstairs to his front door. He opened it and immediately noticed the figure standing across the street on the sidewalk from his house. He was in a hooded cloak kind of jacket or something but immediately noticed the Duel Disk attached to his arm. Terry walked toward him and as he closed the distance, he slid his own Duel Disk onto his arm. He stopped walkingwhen he reachedthe sidewalk on his side and stood there, waiting.

"I've been waiting for you, Terry." said the figure.

"You know my name too, huh?" said Terry.

"Yes, and I know that you seek the Millennium Items." said the figure.

"The way things have been going these days, it's no wonder people know my name or my business. How do you know about the Millennium Items?" asked Terry.

The figure then discarded his cloak and in the street light, Terry got a look at him good for the first time. He was a dark skinned man with no hair. His eyes were very dark, almost as if they wernt even there. Also something that caught his eye was the golden object draped around his neck.

"Because I guard one of them, the Millennium Scale. But if you want it, you have to defeat me in a duel."

Terry extended his arm and watched his Duel Disk automatically snap together and come to rest in it's permanent position astride his left arm. He took his deck and set it into place in its holder.

"Defeat you is all? Not a problem. Its good as mine." said Terry confidently. "But I didn't catch your name."

The figure snapped his Duel Disk into place. "My name isn't important, Scale," he said motioning toward his item, "will do."

"OK, Scale, bring on the noise!"

"Duel!" they both called out in unison.

* * *

Upperdeck 

Several man size computers lined the walls of the room where computer operators monitored the system with which the Duel Disks were connected to. Rather, where operators would be monitoring them. No one was there but mysteriously and rather 'magically' one computer started itself with no commands. This one computer warmed up all the Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D images and readied itself to transmit them to Duel Disks. A duel was starting.

* * *

Terry and his opponent Scale simultaneously fired their projectors from their Disks and watched them land astride from each of them. Both players drew their starting five cards and began their duel. 

"I will begin," said Scale. "Draw." he said as he took the first turn. "I will set one reverse card and activate this Spell Card."

Terry watched as Scale's one reverse card appeared in the middle of the street and another appeared next to it. It started to rise as the activated Spell Card appeared.

"Scapegoat…" said Terry aloud.

"That's right. This card summons four Sheep Tokens (0/0) for me in defense mode. I'll end my turn."

Terry wondered why he would play such a card in the first turn. "My turn! Draw!" he said. It wouldn't be the best move to go right out at him, he thought to himself. It would be better to find out what he was up to, but to still keep some pressure on.

"I'll summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode!" said Terry. He took a moment to just watch as his monster materialized on the field. The 3D system brought up a digital version of his monster's card. A bright light came from the face of the card and etched out the shape of his monster down to the finest details. Then the white light faded away and the real version with all the colors and textures came into view. The entire process only took a few moments but for those few moments, Terry couldn't have been happier.

Terry brought his focus back to the duel. "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200), attack one of the Scapegoat's! (0/0)" Terry's monster dashed across the field, unsheathing it's sword as it ran and slashed one of the Scapegoats in half. It 'exploded' as all the polygons that made up that Scapegoat separated and faded away. "I'll end my turn there."

Scale drew his next card silently and added it to his hand. "I'll summon Sinister Serpent (300/350) in defense mode."

"Sinister Serpent, huh? You must not have a whole lot of monsters in your hand, Scale to use that!"

Scale smiled slightly. "Why do you figure that?"

"Sinister Serpent's special effect is that when it goes to the graveyard, during your next Standby Phase, you can add it back to your hand. A regenerative defense."

"Maybe," said Scale, "or it can be a regenerative weapon."

Terry laughed. "There's nothing I need to fear from such a weak monster. My turn! Draw!"

Terry looked at this situation, with only the Scapegoats and a Sinister Serpent on the field, it was a prime opportunity to start stacking up his offense.

"I'll summon Gear Freed the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in attack mode!" said Terry. "Obnoxious Celtic Guaridan (1400/1200), attack another of his Scapegoats! (0/0) Now Gear Freed (1800/1600), attack his Sinister Serpent! (300/350)"

"At this instant, I will activate my reverse card!"

_I knew it_, Terry thought to himself.

"Spell Card Open! Last Will!"

"Last Will?" said Terry.

"Yes, when one of my monsters is sent to the graveyard in the same turn this card is activated, I can Special Summon one monster from my deck that has an attack power of 1500 or less."

Gear Freed brought down it's sword on Sinister Serpent and defeated it but Terry watched as it didn't actually die but just slithered back toward Scale. The snake then began to glow bright white and the light shot from the ground to the slot on the Duel Disk where the Graveyard was.

"The monster I choose from Last Will is…"

A light came up around Scale that startled Terry and made him look away for a moment. As he turned back, he saw the monster that Scale had chosen.

"Could that be!…" said Terry.

"Correct," said Scale, cutting off Terry. "I choose Cannon Soldier! (1400/1300)"

_A regenerative weapon... _Terry disgustedly thought to himself. "I'll end my turn." he said.

"My turn! Draw!" said Scale, "And during my Standby Phase," Scale watched as his Disk automatically ejected his Sinister Serpent from his Graveyard, "I add my Sinister Serpent from my Graveyard back to my hand!"

Terry took a step back, he knew what was coming now…

"It's time…Take these two Sheep Tokens as your sacrifices and attack! Cannon Soldier! (1400/1300)"

The two Sheep Tokens began to glow and became two round orbs of light, they zipped around and began to circle around the Cannon Soldier. They settled themselves into the holster of it's cannon. The cannon then started arcing skyward and then…

_BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!_

Terry yanked his head skyward to watch the two shots streak upward through the night sky and then slowly arc and begin their descent. A descent right over him! His eyes were wide as they screamed toward him and then exploded in a dazzle of light and fire and smoke right above his position.

Scale, looking as the smoke faded, saw Terry down to one knee, breathing heavily and looking very surprised.

"Wha…What the….the hell was that!" asked Terry.

"Surprised? Shocked?" said Scale.

"I…I…" started Terry.

"You felt it right? You felt the force of a direct attack directly on you, Terry?"

"…How?"

"You know exactly how."

"It cant be…" said Terry, getting back up to his feet. He looked around the area and saw that it was very dark, much darker than it should be for street lights and moonlight to be lighting the area. In fact…he didn't even see the moon. Then it hit him. What Scale meant. What he knew in the back of his head, what made him feel that last attack.

"Yami no Game…" whispered Terry.

"Correct, Terry. This is a Game of Darkness as you have guessed." Said Scale from across the street.

"But how?" asked Terry, still a little shaken from the attack.

Scale didn't answer immediately. He looked away from the field at the darkness to the side of him. Terry waited, expecting some kind of answer.

"All chosen ones of the Millennium Items…when they engage in a duel against one another, it must become a Game of Darkness. Automatically."

"Why?" asked Terry, back to his feet now.

"Surely Shadi must have consulted you by now, as you now have the Millennium Puzzle. Originally the priests thought to seal Re'-Sha into just one item, the Millennium Ring. But she would not be contained so easily. Five more items were created in order hold her into that one item."

"Five?" said Terry, "But Shadi said there are seven items. That only accounts for six."

"True. Your Millennium Puzzle is the seventh, not one of the 'original' six. It was created well after the 'original' six were."

"Huh! What do you mean?" said Terry.

"You'll eventually understand. Now I suggest we continue our battle."

Terry slowly nodded in agreement, realizing that Scale had said all that he intended to say about the items and Re'-Sha. But that fact about his Millennium Puzzle wore on his mind. _'Not one of the original six' he had said. If his Millennium Puzzle was created after the others, for what reason was it made? Better yet, for what purpose if it took the other five to seal Re'-Sha in the Millennium Ring?_

"It is still my turn," said Scale, "Since I have not yet summoned a monster this turn, I summon Sinister Serpent (300/200) in defense mode."

Terry narrowed his eyes.

Scale just smiled, "Rest easy, I will not attack again this turn. Rather, I will set three reverse cards and end my turn."

SCALE LP: 4000

TERRY LP: 3000

_Three reverse cards…_said Terry to himself. "My turn! Draw!"

Terry stood still for a moment taking in this new bit of information. Things had certainly gotten more interesting but also more confusing. But he still wasn't confused about one thing.

"Scale, let me tell you something. Through this tournament, I have a few goals to achieve. The main one? Re'-Sha Shiyth. If it takes everything that I have I will defeat her and set Future History back into its rightful place."

"That's a bold statement, Terry. I wonder if you know what you are getting yourself into."

Terry laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" asked Scale.

"Of course I don't know what im getting myself into!" said Terry with a big smile on his face. The smile then faded and became serious, "But no matter what it is, all I can do is try at it with all I have."

Terry picked a card from his hand and hesitated before using it. He smiled again, _I can't run from the fate that destiny has chosen for me. The only thing I can do…is face it!_

"I will summon Warrior Dai Greypher (1700/1600) in attack mode!" declared Terry.

Scale just looked as Dai Greypher materialized on the field. Terry had the advantage of more monsters than he has. _More than likely_, he thought to himself, _he will attack._ He would not have a lot of life points left but this duel is still all his to lose.

"Also," said Terry, "I will use this Spell Card! Tribute to the Doomed!"

"Tribute to the Doomed?" said Scale.

"Right, by sacrificing one card from my hand," and Terry discarded one card from his hand, reducing his hand count to 3 cards, "I can destroy one monster on the field. Of course, I choose to destroy Cannon Soldier!"

Terry watched as white bandages shot from his Spell Card on the field and started to wrap themselves onto Scale's Cannon Soldier. Cannon Soldier tried to struggle against it, but it was completely covered with bandages and mummified. The bandages that still were leading into the Magic Card then began to retract and pull the mummified Cannon Soldier into the card and then it slowly sunk into the ground.

"Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200), attack the Sinister Serpent! (300/200)"

Celtic Guardian attacked the snake and like usual, it didn't die and just jumped into Scale's graveyard. Now Scale was open except for the two reverse cards. Terry figured Scale knew he was going to attack this turn and that's why he left his Killer Snake on the field, to protect his life points. But if those reverse cards were traps…

Scale looked on with some interest. _Will the boy attack?_

Terry didn't keep him waiting very long. "Gear Freed (1800/1600), Dai Greyfar (1700/1600), direct attack!"

Gear Freed took the first move and slashed at Scale with it's saber. Scale tried to shield himself with his arms but it didn't help. Gear Freed cut down on him viciously and Scale held his chest where Gear Freed had taken it's slash. He fell to one knee. Like Terry, he wasn't immune to the damage that a duelist received from a direct attack. It felt like he was hit, and worse yet cut, by that saber. But it wasn't over. Scale heard Dai Greyfar coming and saw him coming at him, sword unsheathed. Scale got back on his feet just in time to catch the upward swing of the swordsman's slash. Scale couldn't defend himself from this attack and was lifted into the air by it. He managed to land on his feet but wobbled backwards from the force of it.

"Scale," stated Terry, his face twisted into a scowl. "You challenged me to a duel and I refuse to be gentle on you no matter who you might be."

"Heh he he he he…you are a remarkable one, I will certainly give you that. But im afraid you haven't 'hurt' me in the least." said Scale, down to one knee now.

"What?" asked Terry. Just as he said this, Terry caught something moving toward him from the left. He had no time to dodge or anything and was knocked to the ground. He looked around and saw off to his side some arrows. Several arrows scattered around the ground.

"Heh heh heh…my Trap Card catch you by surprise?"

"Wha? A Trap Card?" said Terry, still on the ground. He looked up from over his chest to make out a Trap Card on Scale's field.

"Attack and Receive?" asked Terry.

"Right, this card is activated when you damaged my Life Points. You will, in return lose 700 points."

"You…" muttered Terry.

"I certainly hope that you haven't shown me all you have. If that's the case, you are as good as dead very soon." said Scale.

TERRY LP: 2300

SCALE LP: 300

"You only have 300 Life Points left, how do you think you are a threat to me now?" asked Terry.

"With 300 Life Points, yes, I have a disadvantage. But it's outweighed by the advantage that I have strategy working for me."

Terry narrowed his eyes. _A strategy? What is he planning then?_ Terry surveyed the situation. _It's true I do have the advantage with Life Points, so what possible advantage does he have... Maybe it's not about the Life Points... His Cannon Soldier is still a threat and every turn he can summon his Sinister Serpent to damage me without ever launching an attack with one on the field. He'll summon another one next turn. Wait..._ Terry looked down at Scale's reverse cards.

"I'll set two reverse cards to end my turn." Said Terry.

"My turn, draw!" said Scale. "Heh he he he h-he"

Terry looked at Scale, "What's so funny?"

"That you've almost assured yourself that you're going to win, that you will easily toss me aside, but!" Scale held up the just drawn card, "This card seals MY victory!"

"That card…" Terry said to himself.

Scale activated his drawn Spell Card. "Permanent Spell Card, Messenger of Peace!"

Terry growled.

"With this card in play, any monster with an attack power of 1500 or more cannot attack. Your monsters are useless to you now!"

"My monsters…" Said Terry.

"I'll summon Cannon Soldier! (1400/1300) And at that time, Reverse Spell Open! Soul Exchange! Times 2!" Scale said, opening both of his reverse cards on his field.

Terry eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open. Soul Exchange could take all of his monsters as sacrifices in place of Scale's monsters. But they could be used in ways other than a Sacrifice Summon…

He watched as hisDai Greyfar and Gear Freedbegan to glow in that ominous white light and become little orbs that flew to Scale field and loaded themselves into Cannon Soldier's cannon.

Terry saw the cannon drawing in energy, preparing for a massive strike. A yellow glow emanated from the mouth of the cannon. Even the Cannon Solider itself was digging in for this strike.

"Attack!" called Scale.

Then it shot out like a rocket, a screaming yellow bolt of energy. Energy from Terry's own monsters. He took a step back anticipating the blow and even still wasn't prepared for the pain it delivered. He openly screamed as he was lifted from the ground and rattled with the power that monster had given. His body tingled and his heart was beating through his ears. Every nerve on his body was being overloaded. Then the attack ended and the energy faded away. Terry fell on his knees and then over on his face.

TERRY LP: 1300

SCALE LP: 300

Scale stood saying nothing with his arms crossed across his chest. The boy definitely had will; can he recover from this blow?

Terry stirred. He opened his eyes and saw only a mix of gray and blackness. His vision was hazy and he was bristling with scrapes that he felt down his entire body. _What power..._ he thought to himself. _I can barely move...maybe...maybe I should...stay down...and...surrender?_

Scale continued to look on. Terry had not yet moved but he knew he was conscious. _Was this the limit of Terry's strength? Was this all the determination, the strength of mind he had?_

_Re'-Sha_. Terry thought of her at this moment. He recalled the carnage she wrought just to get him to duel her. _All those people that she hurt...If I fall now, she will win...she'll win..._

"Arggg! No! Nooo!"

Scale couldn't help but smile. Terry had found his determination. He found his determination to fight through pain, through strife, to achieve a goal. _You have taken your first step, Terry._

Terry had risen off the ground and was onto his hands and knees. "She…" he heaved, his breath coming in gasps. "She cant be allowed…to win!" Terry looked down and saw his Millennium Puzzle. _Yes, the puzzle. I was chosen. I took on the responsibility. And I cant fail now! Not in my first battle!_

"Well, well. You have guts to continue this duel knowing the damage I can deal you at any time."

"Quiet…" breathed Terry.

"What?" asked Scale.

"I don't want to hear anymore about how good you are. I only want to hear your skill…" Terry stood back up on his feet. raised his head and stared right at Scale, "I only want to hear your skill through your duel!"

Scale was silent.

"I briefly thought about surrender, but I cant do that. Re-Sha is waiting for me. I have to get to her…through you!"

"I see." said Scale. "But like you said, you would not be gentle with me. Likewise, I will not hold back. No more talk!"

"From the effect of Soul Exchange, in exchange of taking all of your monsters as my sacrifices, I cannot have a battle phase for this turn." Said Scale.

Scale silently plucked a card from his hand and looked at it. Another Soul Exchange. The card he had drawn for this turn. With this card in his hand, his victory was almost assured. Messenger of Peace would decrease his Life Points by 100 in his Standby Phase. He only had 300 Life Points left but Terry doesn't even have 2 turns left. All Terry would have to do is summon another monster to his field on his turn. He would activate Soul Exchange and sacrifice both that monster that he summons and his own Cannon Soldier. A win for him. _I have all the pieces in place. And i left you a gracious opening by not sacrificing all your monsters. Can you find a way to win in one turn, Terry?_

"Ill set one reverse card and end my turn." said Scale.

Terry looked at the reverse card just set then at Scale. Terry read his face and felt very sure that Scale had something that was dangerous. Even if he didn't summon a monster, as his eyes trailed to the Permanent Spell card on Scale's field, the Messenger of Peace can't affect Cannon Soldier and it would be free to attack him directly.

He looked down at his deck. It had come down to this. This draw would do it. This draw would make or break him in an instant. _Please, my deck. I need this one. It doesn't have to be a mirale...I just need a chance!_

"Final turn! Draw!"

Time stood still in the moment that Terry made his 'final draw'. The darkness around them seemed to be caught up in the tension. One card was going to decide this duel's outcome. Terry slowly brought the card up to his face, his eyes were closed as he did so. The tension didn't go unnoticed on Scale too as he was eager to know what that card might be. Terry opened his eyes and looked at his card.

And he smiled.

"Scale." Said Terry. "Let's finish this!"

"Hm?" perked Scale.

Terry held his arm over one of his reverse cards, "Reverse Card, Open! Ojama Trio!"

"What!" called Scale. He watched as three goofy, cartoony monsters materialized on his field. They started to bicker with one another and strike ridiculous poses as if they were on camera.

"Ojama Trio," stated Terry, arms crossed, "This Trap Card lets me special summon three Ojama Tokens (0/1000) onto my opponents field in defense mode. These tokens cannot be used in a sacrifice summon."

"You're a fool! Tokens or monsters, it doesn't matter which. All can be used to activate Cannon Soldier's effect." said Scale.

"Am I? I also will summon Magic Knight –Breaker! (1900/1000)" started Terry.

"Just what I was waiting for! Reverse Spell, Open! Soul Exchan – What!" countered Scale.

Both watched as Scale's Spell Card was sliced in half. Breaker had been summoned and as it came onto the field, it dashed for the set card of Scale's. Just as it was about to be activated, Breaker destroyed it.

"Impossible? How can a monster destroy a Spell Card!" asked Scale.

"That's the special effect of my Magic Knight – Breaker. When Breaker is normally summoned onto the field, he has one Magic Counter equipped to him. By utilizing that Magic Counter, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field but his attack power drops by 300 points. Breaker's attack power is now at 1600."

Scale grunted in disapproval, "That matters little now. You still cannot attack."

"Also!" Terry called, bringing in Scale's attention, "I will activate my other reverse card!"

"Reverse Trap, Open! Staunch Defender!"

Scale became wide-eyed. "Th-that card!"

"Staunch Defender, this Trap Card allows me to select one of my monsters on the field as the target of all of your monsters total attacks. I will choose Breaker with an attack power of 1600. But your Ojama Tokens have an attack power of 0. The duel is over! Breaker, ready!"

Terry's Trap Card, now standing on the field, began to glow and a beam shot out from the card to Scale's monsters. All three of the tokens and Cannon Soldier trapped in the beam seemed to struggle for a moment until the beam faded away and suddenly they dashed across the field toward Breaker.

Breaker brought his sword over his head and it started to shine in a blue light that lit up the gloomy darkness of the field. It stood there, ready and staring down the quartet of monsters dashing at him.

"Breaker, attack! Sickle Shock Wave!"

Breaker tightened it's grip on it's sword and with a shout sliced downward with his sword and a powerful sickle of energy, blue and sparkling, skipped away from the blade and toward the running monsters. Then it hit.

The four monsters stopped still when the wave came at them and even stiller as the wave cut across the middle section of their bodies. All their bodies hung in the air for a moment before shattering away in a pool of polygons.

Terry looked at Scale as he began to notice that the eerie darkness of the Yami no Game started to fade away to the normal lights and sights of the outside street of his house. The sun was daring to creep up across the horizon signaling the start of the day.

"I win, Scale." said Terry, crossing the distance between them as he talked. "And I have to apologize for what I said at the beginning. You're a very good duelist and I shouldn't have taken that for granted."

Scale said nothing.

"But," said Terry, still walking, "I must take that Millennium Scale from you now."

At this point, Terry was right across from Scale, who was looking down at his feet. He looked up, a stern look in his face. Obviously he was upset about the loss and Terry wondered what he would do. He didn't wait long.

"Terry." started Scale, "WELL PLAYED!" he shouted, startling Terry into stepping back a step. Scale offered his hand for a handshake and Terry, a smile on his face now, accepted it.

"You too!" said a smiling Terry.

* * *

"Feh! What a pathetic Guardian!" muttered Re'-Sha from her hiding spot above Terry and Scale. On top of a nearby house, she watched the duel from her perch and observed Terry's duel. 

_So his ultimate goal through this foolish tournament is to get to duel me again. That's fine. Let him find his way to me with all the items in tow. Then we can finish our business. Terry, I know that you will not fail in defeating all the Guardians. I know that you will not fail in gathering all your requirements to face me. But you will fail where it will count the most. The time when you have to face your destiny! ME!_

* * *

Terry was examining the Millennium Scale in his hands, a small marvel to his mind. It looked a lot smaller than anything he might have imagined it to be but when was he and his imagination ever right in this situation. 

"Also, here is your Puzzle Card." stated Scale, holding the thin clear card to Terry.

Terry carefully took the card and examined it. A clear piece of some type of maybe hard plastic. But there was a little difference between the real one and the ones hes seen from the show. There was a number inscribed in the corner. The number three-hundred. He didn't know what that meant but he now had one. Only four more Puzzle Cards and he would be able to get into the finals. And also find Re'-Sha and finish his business with that witch.

"Scale, there's something I want to know." said Terry.

"Hmm?"

"My Millennium Puzzle, you said it was not one of the original six Millennium Items. I don't know anything about these items but you have to tell me. What makes this thing so special? Why was it made, as you said, after the other six were?"

"To tell that story," said Scale, exhaling a long breath. "I think we need to-"

Terry jumped backwards, skipping away from Scale's body which had just been encased in a black cloud. Scale looked around at this and tried to speak but couldn't. It didn't feel like some simple cloud. Terry looked on and could "feel" this was some kind of dark power. It wasn't explainable to him, but he knew something had just gone very wrong.

* * *

"HA HA HA HA HA! You don't need to say anything Scale!" 

Terry followed the sound of the voice to the top of a house behind him. He looked up into the early morning sky to make out the figure of who was talking.

"Terry, remember me?"

"RE'-SHA!"

She just nodded.

Terry looked back at Scale again and demanded to know what she had done to him.

"Scale? This fool just has an appointment im helping him to keep."

"Appointment?"

"Yes, Death has come for him! Die Scale!"

Terry whipped his head around to see the cloud that had enveloped Scale was growing darker, growing more cold. Through the swirling mass, Terry could make out Scale's face in brief moments.

Shock.

Shock.

Confusion?

Searching…

Revultion.

Fear…

Acceptance?

Pain!

Terry started to run to try to help Scale but saw his face again, now twisting from side to side in pain but obviously trying to tell him to stay away. Terry saw him raising an arm pointing behind him to Re'-Sha. He was telling him to focus on her and not him. The clouds covered what little he saw of Scale's face. Then Terry could see nothing more. No more movement. The cloud seemed to have done its dirty job and slowly dissipated. Terry saw nothing more of the man called Scale.

Terry said nothing. All his emotions were in play. It was like a deck of cards being shuffled with each card having one of his emotions tattooed on them, all of them being tossed around. But one was starting to stand out.Terry felt heat rising in his blood, blood heated with the power of his anger. He clenched his fists tightly and let a tear flow from his closed eyes. He heard laughter. Terry opened his eyes then wheeled around to look up at Re'-Sha, still standing on top of the roof nearby.

The two of them stared at each other. There were no other people in the world in that moment that hated each other more than the two of them. Terry burning with a renewed vengeance for this woman and everything that she stood for. Re'-Sha burning with her own anger at this 'boy' that defeated her, humiliated her, and still stands like a pillar of her own ineptness.

Terry began speaking, "I told that man that my ultimate goal in this tournament was to get to you again. To find you and stop you from whatever plan you have to do with Future History. But I have to strike myself."

Terry pointed a finger at Re'-Sha.

"My ONLY goal is to defeat you, Re'-Sha!"

Re'-Sha crossed her arms.

"You will fail, boy. You can't defeat me because I will not allow it."

"What!" asked Terry.

"You're a pathetic duelist, you're a pathetic person and you are clueless about everything around you. Ignorance will not beat me, boy!"

Terry's temper just hit the breaking point. "You think so!"

Terry took his deck out and restarted his Duel Disk and slammed his deck into place.

"Come down here and fight me now, coward!"

"Heh heh heh. Look at the bold brave Guardian of Future History. Filled with anger wanting to fight a fight he can't win. Not yet, Guardian. I haven't prepared everything yet."

"GET DOWN HERE!" screamed Terry.

"I will tell you this. I will play your game and win these stupid Puzzle Cards so we may meet in the finals of this tournament. And I guarantee you; it will be the duel of your life! My scene beforehand, my scene when we first met, was only an attempt to unlock some of my power. I can easily destroy you and your friends but destruction is so quick and unsatisfying afterwards. Torment is so, so much sweeter." Terry could see her licking her lips in the light, "I'll be waiting in the finals!"

And with that, another black cloud quickly formed around Re'-Sha and as it dissipated, she was gone.

"RE'-SHA! DAMN YOU!"

* * *

Around the city, clocks all rang out 10:00am 

10:00 am signaled the start of Battle City.

* * *

_Well, there you have it! Terry is the winner, but its a bittersweet victory. _

_When i initially wrote this chapter, it was broken into two but i combined them. I didn't like that they seemed too short on their own. Combined it just feels better and looks better. Speaking of which, how did you like my first duel using the Duel Disks? I tried to make it a much bigger difference between the earlier duels on tables to the here and now with, well in most cases, holograms. Each card has a visual appearance and usually has some kind of action to it. It makes it much more fun and more of a challenge to write good Duel Disk duels. _

_Now that Battle City has begun, the pace increases dramatically. You might remember from the show, Battle City was finished in about 2 1/2 days. If you recall, i said this is more real-to-life and even as Terry finishes that duel, the tournament has started. Meaning for you? In my fanfiction, Battle City will be finished in 9 hours!_

_Something to wonder about for next time...What is the secret of the Millennium Puzzle? Why must owners of Millennium Items fight in Games of Darkness? The answers will come but until then, Battle City must move on. Knowledge and Vega get ready for the tournament and we learn more about Vega too in The Origin of Defeat. Due out - 5/15!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	10. The Origin of Defeat

_Disclaimer: I wonder just what would happen if i was to say that i owned the thing...on second thought, maybe not. I like having roof over my head as opposed to a cardboard box, lol. Well, i don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! so there 4Kids!_

_Well, today class, we will look at history. Vega's history to be precise. Just what drove the guy to get just a touch obsessed with beating someone? Scroll down to find out. Plus, Knowledge gets to meet his first opponent of Battle City and Terry has some weird things happening with his new Millennium Scale._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 10: The Origin of Defeat

_Bzzzzzzzzzzzz_

Click.

Knowledge sat in his bed, awake but not from the warning of his alarm clock. He had been awake for a few minutes already. He looked over at his clock to remind himself that it was 11:00am, only an hour since the 'official' start of Battle City. He had everything set out for himself, clothes, breakfast snack, and his Duel Disk and deck. He rolled out of bed and started to dress himself. He opted for simplicity in the outfit, that andmoney usually dictated that you wouldn't find a lot of flashy stuff in his closets. He just went for a pair of light blue shorts with a belt and some white tennis shoes. It looked like it would be hotter than what he expected so he threw the long sleeve shirt away for a white tank top and put on an open ¾ sleeve button up shirt. It had a mix of light and dark blue and a little bit of white in areas, almost in a paintball splattering kind of fashion.He was silent during this whole time of putting his clothes on.

_If it wasn't for this business with Shadi and Re'-Sha and Terry, this wouldn't be such a dreary day. Things are so complicated._

He walked downstairs to whip up his quick breakfast.

_Terry is a Guardian of Future History and has to stop some business from happening in the future. I'll help him out anyway that I can and anyway that I can do to help him I will. But im going to do what my heart tells me, to make my mark in this game. Im going to defeat anyone and everyone that comes against me._

Knowledge sat down and began eating.

_And that girl. This Re'-Sha. I will find her and make her pay for what she's done. I don't care if destiny or whatever says that Terry will defeat her. If that be the case...I'll be the one to hand down her punishment._

* * *

Just a little past 11:00am, Lamar Vega walked out of his home into the early morning. He had thought about having his hair braided but decided against it and just let it hang down. He opted for a tan outfit of tan khakis that were baggy and a tan button up jacket that he left unbuttoned exposing his black sleeveless t-shirt beneath it. The jacket had a picture airbrushed on the back of his Red-Eyes. A pair of simple white tennis shoes and a pair of square rim sunglasses completed his outfit. The sun was shining and a slight breeze carried the morning warmth but he was oblivious to this. He was focused and passionate, ready to start dueling and to find one particular opponent, Terry Hairston. 

_I've never been so obsessed with beating one particular duelist. Terry is a totally different duelist than I am. He thinks in ways different from me. He plays and combos in different ways from me. He seems to interpret moves and strategies different from me. But for all his differences to me, he is my closest to an equal..._

* * *

The Place: Rolling Stock Sports Cards, 1 month ago 

"How did you-" stammered Vega, very unbecoming of his usual calmness.

He was referring to the situation he was in now. Only a few moments ago, he was in control of this duel between him and this amateur kid. His deck was all but unstoppable with the combination he had on the field. His Vampire Lord (2000/1500) stood out as the leader. Vampire Lord could be Special Summoned back to his field when it was destroyed by a card's effect, and Vega combined that ability with the effect of Deck Destruction Virus from a previous turn. No monster with an attack of 1500 or less would be able to exist in his opponents hand. That effect alone would clear any of the pesky reverse effect monsters he might have had. And he also had his Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) out as well to clear through said reverse monsters. But to top it off, he also had the Ebiko Drakmord Equip Spell Card in his hand for any monster that might have posed a problem that his opponent could place onto the field. So just in case he had something that would become a threat, itll die in two turns. It's pretty close to a clear all-out and in the bag win.

But he was dueling Terry Hairston today.

Terry had just used his Monster Reborn to Special Summon his Injection Fairy Lily (400/1500) that had just been destroyed from the deck virus.

"To answer your question, yep, you did destroy her but even though she's been destroyed, I can bring her back and use her without any ill."

Vega looked this situation over. _Hmmm...a problem but it's not worth sweating. With the Lily out, it might make this duel end in the next turn. He will definitely, no obviously, attack. But he only has 2050 Life Points left compared to my 2200. Even if my Vampire Lord is destroyed, ill only take 1400 damage, leaving me with 800. Or if he goes for my Tyrant Dragon, ill take only 500 points of damage and leave me with 1700. But either way, it will leave him with only 50 and that single monster. He's just struggling…_

Terry, likewise, was looking this over too. _And if I do get rid of his Vampire Lord, ill have destroyed his main monster but there are plenty of monsters that he has that could easily kill my Injection Angel Lily with only 400 attack points. Including that damned Tyrant Dragon on his field. I have noSpellor Trap Cards on my field and just a Pot of Greed, Chain Energy, and Gemini Elf. Guess I know what I gotta do._

"And I will play Pot of Greed, which lets me-" started Terry.

"Im not an idiot, just go ahead and fish." sneered Vega.

Terry glared at him silently for a moment. Vega returned it with a stare of his own. _All he's doing is hoping for a miracle. And in this game, miracles don't happen._

Terry looked down toward his deck and then quickly drew his two cards and closed his eyes. He slowly opened them and first saw a Monster Card, Cyber Jar (900/900). He grunted, useless. He moved it to the side and saw a Magic Card. And broke into a wide grin.

Vega raised an eyebrow. _I guess the fish just got hooked..._

As if to answer that question, Terry placed all his other cards down on the table and just held up one card, its back facing Vega. "Guess this little fish isn't ready for the market."

"Bull." said Vega.

"Then watch. I activate my Spell Card, Buster Rancher!"

"What!" exclaimed Vega, standing up immediately from his chair.

"Buster Rancher," Terry explained, "this Equipment Spell Card can only be equipped on monsters with an attack power of 1000 or less. It allows my monster to gain a 2500 attack point power-up so long as it battles with a monster of yours with an attack power or defense power of 2500 or more. Tyrant Dragon has an attack power of 2900."

"I'll begin my Battle Phase! Injection Angel Lily will attack your Tyrant Dragon! And I activate her special ability. By paying 2000 of my own Life Points, I can boost her attack points by 3000! And also, Buster Launcher's effect activates elevating her total attack power to 5900!"

Vega had continued to stand. Terry stood up as well and they locked eyes.

"A difference of 3000 Life Points." said Terry, and offered his hand in respect.

Vega said nothing. He just continued to stare at this amateur.

"What's your name?" asked Vega.

"Terry. Terry Hairston." he said. "AKA – the little fish."

If Vega was angry before, this set him off. His eyes narrowed and his skin became hot. His hands balled into a fist and his arm shivered. Suddenly he slammed that fist down into the table. Other duelists within their immediate area jumped from this and others around them turned to see what happened. RJ appeared and immediately asked Vega to leave the store. Vega turned to look at him. RJ wasn't kidding. Vega took up his deck and slipped it into his pocket and turned to leave. And as he was leaving he said this so anyone can hear it,

"I won't forget that name!"

* * *

As Vega replayed that moment in his memory, he could still feel the sting of that bitter defeat. A loss isn't something that he experiences often but to have it come at the hands of this 'kid', this 'amateur', it shamed him to put it simply. He was much better than that and it shouldn't have happened at all. At least, that's what he 'wanted' to tell himself, but he knew better. Terry had outplayed him and it helped that he was so arrogant. He had won in more than one tournament and had taken several titles from private and invitation only tournaments. But this tournament was different; the whole city was his enemy. And speaking of which, another kid came walking in front of Vega. It was a scrawny little guy that couldn't have been more than 10 years old, Duel Disk in tow. He had a messy haircut of blonde 'stuff' that couldn't be called hair with a face full of freckles and a thin neck. Made him look like his head was much too big and heavy for that neck to hold up. He was just walking around in a t-shirt and bright blue shorts. But he also had a female adult that resembled him shadowing him, probably his mother. 

"Hey you!" says the kid, "Wanna duel!"

"Jimmy!" calls out the mother, "Behave!" she turned toward Vega, "Please forgive him if he's being rude to you."

"It's OK, ma'am." said Vega, but then he turns to the kid, obviously named Jimmy. "Sorry kid, but I don't want to duel you. It wouldn't be fair."

"You suck! You must be really bad at this! Fine…" Jimmy said and walked past him. Jimmy's mother let him go ahead and stopped ahead of Vega.

"Thank you. You're so sweet." she said to Vega.

Vega nooded.

She took off after her son who was a good ways down the street after only briefly stopping to talk with Vega. Vega looked back on the kid, obviously rude. Vega genuinely liked to play this game, he didn't wanna destroy Jimmy's spirit to play a game that he found enjoyable.

He continued walking down the street. "The only person's spirit that I want to crush is here in this city…"

* * *

Terry awoke slowly, from a very restless 2 hour powernap. It was now 12:00pm. Noon. He was awake but couldn't open his eyes. Not from fatigue of the body but of the mind. It was just now starting to sink in on how serious this situation really is. And on just how little he actually knew of this Re'-Sha and his now totaling two Millennium Items. He felt on his chest for the Puzzle, which he shouldn't have worn to sleep as it put a hurt on his chest when he slept face down. Ouch. 

"What do I actually know about this thing?" he said aloud. "Ever since I got this, things are so complicated."

He thought back to that moment when Re'-Sha had killed Scale. He would not forget those moments for the rest of his days. The look in Scale's eyes. The coldness running in his body. That laugh that she let out. He would definitely not forget that. But it made him wonder about something. Would it be as simple as to defeat her in a duel to stop Re-Sha?

Then, with his eyes still closed, felt a light starting to shine on his closed eyelids. He opened his eyes and saw that the light was coming from his new Millennium Scale sitting on the nightstand next to his face. He opened his eyes and saw it was glowing in a golden light that was pleasant enough to not hurt his eyes, he could see the item inside the light giving off this strange reaction.

"What the ?"

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME: 12:30PM 

Knowledge was walking in the middle of downtown, crowded from the hustle of businessmen and women on their way to work, people looking to enjoy the afternoon sunshine and breeze and then the people like him, the tournament players. They were easily noticeable, they all had their Duel Disks strapped to their arms. Knowledge was heading toward a plaza near the western part of downtown. It was a wide open area that would be perfect for dueling and he figured to spend his time down there to wins some Puzzle Cards.

But he should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. The Duel Disk had a tendency to be annoying in a cramped area since it poked people. He started to raise his Duel Disk strapped hand and didn't notice it goose a young businesswoman in front of him.

She immediately wheeled around and looked Knowledge in the eye. Knowledge didn't know he did something to her and like a normal kid, he started looking her over and didn't mind at all what he saw. Nice cute face framed with brunette hair.

"Hi there, Miss!" said Knowledge.

SHOOSH! FWHAP!

The slap was heard a good ways away and all eyes converged on the falling frame of Knowledge who got laid out by a pretty looking young lady that stomped off down the sidewalk.

"Call me baby!" called out Knowledge.

* * *

Terry, now out of bed and standing over the nightstand where his Millennium Scale was glowing, watched as it continued to just keep glowing. On impulse, he looked to his Millennium Puzzle and saw that the eye in the middle of the upside down pyramid was glowing much the same as the Scale. He couldn't figure out what was going on but then the glowing started to diminish. No, it didn't diminish, it was taking on a shape! He continued to watch as the light shaped itself into a rectangle the same shape and size of a card. The card began to stand out from the glow. 

Terry reached down to pluck the floating card out of the light. As he closed his fingers on it, he was surprised to feel the usual paper feel of a card. A card that appeared out of nowhere. When he moved his hand to take the card, the light just vanished. He blinked a couple of times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. But no matter how many times he did, the card, its back facing Terry, didn't vanish out of his sight.

_What in the world was that?_ thought Terry. He looked at the back of his new card and turned it over.

"What is this!" said to the yellow card that was void of anything. A blank monster card.

"Argg…" groaned Terry, flopping back down onto his bed. "I cant stand complicated! Couldn't you have dropped an anvil on my head instead!" he said to his dormant Millennium Scale.

* * *

Knowledge, his face still stinging from that slap he got, had made his way to the plaza and like he had thought, there were a lot of duelists hanging around and a lot of duels underway. _Technologyis such a cool thing to see in its prime,_ thought Knowledge to himself. _More and more people dueling, having fun, this is what it should be all about!_

He started wandering through the crowds, seeing duels in whatever phase of the game they were in. He saw a couple of kids offer to trade him cards to strengthen their own decks. He politely declined them all, he didn't have any need to change his deck as far as he was concerned. He just needed to find himself a decent enough of a challenge. But as he looked on, he couldn't be completely sure but a lot of these monsters looked the same…

"Damn," he mumbled, "Beatdown…."

"Um…" asked a voice.

Knowledge turned around and was blown away for the second time today. Yet another stunner! And she looked his age too!

She stood about a notch below Knowledge and had to look up to him slightly. She was looking at him with some of the prettiest brown eyes he had looked into. Her face was framed by short soft brown hair that barely made it past the middle of her neck and curled inwards on the ends. A little nose and small lips that looked big on her small frame. She wore some simple blue jeans that were held up with a black belt that met up with a, for lack of better words, sleeveless, violet turtleneck sweater. All in all, the image froze poor Knowledge's brain.

"Um…could you stop staring at me?" asked the girl.

Knowledge snapped out of his coma and blinked a few times. He was surprised that a stunner like her even asked for her attention.

"Yeah. Course I am." said Knowledge, playing it cool.

"Um, I wanted to ask…what were you saying before?" she asked.

"Before what?"

"Well, before you kept staring at me…" she said, looking down and her voice trailing off.

"Hm..oh yeah. I had said 'beatdown' I was talking about this." he said, gesturing with his hand to the duels happening around them. The girl looked up around them with Knowledge.

"They all are playing a lot of the same monsters. A lot of the same Spell Cards and Trap Cards. Its not a duel, its more like – "

"A rat race?" she offered to finish.

"Yeah, exactly." Knowledge said. He turned to look down at her and she immediately looked away, back into the crowds. It was then that he noticed the Duel Disk around her arm.

"Hey, you're a duelist?"

"Yeah." she said, looking down at her Duel Disk.

"Heh, me too." said Knowledge. _Idiot! She can see yours too, dummy!_ "Uh, so are you good?"

She didn't respond immediately.

_Oh real sharp Catravious! Id slap myself if I was watching you talk to this girl!_

"Well I can tell that you aren't a copycat player like them. You got too pretty of a head to waste it like that."

_C-O-R-N-Y!_

But Knowledge watched her start blushing furiously and again ducking her head down. _I really suck at this..._

"I play pretty well. Im not special or anything." she said, finally looking up at him.

"Then you want to duel against me?" he asked. For the first time, he saw her break into a smile as she nodded. Knowledge led the way to an unused corner of the plaza where just a bunch of kids were talking and watching the duels. They both then agreed to bet 1 Puzzle Card on this match, as well as 1 Rare Card from their decks.

"By the way," Knowledge said as he locked his Duel Disk and set his deck, "I don't know your name."

"It's Janet." she said. "Janet Rush."

"And I'm Catravious Collins. But I like Knowledge better."

"Knowledge?" Janet giggled. "OK."

"Ready?" asked Knowledge.

"Ready." Replied Janet, the giggle gone.

"Duel!" they said in unison.

* * *

_I just wanna put something out there. Anyone have the actual Duel Disks that, i think, Mattel made? Ever try to walk around in public with one of those things on, in a crowd? So you see where i was inspired! But as far as poor Knowledge talking with a pretty girl, yeah, you have to admit. The guy has no game. Keep your head up, Knowledge!_

_Next time, Knowledge and Janet dance and show all the beatdown freaks what real skill and power is about. Plus you gotta wonder, just what was up with the card coming out of the Millennium Scale? We shall soon see in a chapter called Knowledge vs. Janet - Dragon vs. Soldier._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	11. Knowledge vs Janet: Dragon vs Soldier

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! but i look forward to the day when i could maybe fool someone into thinking that i did!_

_Well, well, well. Knowledge went looking for a challenge and he certainly found one in Janet. Not only in her deck but just playing against a woman. It looks like Knowledge might have to get schooled slightly! And who better than Janet herself with some 'help'..._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 11: Knowledge Vs. Janet – Dragon vs. Soldier

TOURNAMENT TIME 12:45PM

Vega had finally reached the plaza after seeing most of the duelists were heading in that direction. It was certainly full of players but the question was; were any of them any good? _Probably not, they all look like children. And from what im seeing, theres not much as far as deck variety._ To back up his claim, in at least three different duels from his vantage point, there was an Archfield Soldier (1900/1500) in play. _Not worth my time to look for a challenge in the midst of a bunch of copycats._

Vega turned to leave but caught a glimpse of someone familiar to him. He turned back to walk deeper into the plaza, confident he had seen one of the duelists he noticed with Terry Hairston in his visit to the hospital.

"Ill make the first move," Janet said to Knowledge. She looked over her hand and selected a monster to play.

"Ill summon Nimble Momonga (1000/100) in defense mode."

"Nimble Momonga?" questioned Knowledge.

"Yep, when you destroy this monster in battle, I can gain 1000 Life Points. And I can special summon up to 2 more from my deck to the field." said Janet.

_Least it's not a beatdown. However, that little monster can't stop me from laying some hurt on her life points eventually._

"Ill also set one reverse card and end my turn there."

"My move, draw!" called out Knowledge. _Obviously, she wants to buy some time and some life with the momonga's. Maybe she figures that I wont attack so I don't raise her Life Points. This wouldn't be a bad idea..._Knowledge looked down at his hand and his Ceasefire card.

_CeaseFire_

_Group: Trap Card_

_Type: Trap_

_Flip all face-down Defense Position monsters on the field face-up. Flip Effects are not activated at this time. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points for each Effect Monster on the field._

"Ill summon my Element Dragon (1500/1200) in attack position!" Knowledge watched his monster summon itself on the field. The dragon purred softly and blinked at Janet like it was a creature it had never seen. "Element Dragon can get two different kinds of power-ups depending if there is a Wind-type or Fire-type monster on the field along with it. There are none but I will have it attack your Nimble Momonga!"

The Element Dragon reared backwards a bit and then flew skywards in the air. It began a sharp descent toward Janet's Momonga and slashed through the little squirrel. Polygons scattered around the dragon as her monster was defeated. Janet covered her face from the unexpected dust that kicked into her direction from her destroyed monster. But she was smiling as she lowered her arms.

"With a nickname like Knowledge, I'm sure you know what comes next." she said, removing her deck from its holder.

"You can special summon up to 2 more Nimble Momonga's from your deck to the field in reverse defense position."

"And ill do just that." she said. Two face down cards appeared on the field on cue. "And my Life Points go up by 1000 points."

Knowledge picked up the Ceasefire card from his hand. "But im not quite finished yet. Ill set one reverse card and end my turn there."

KNOWLEDGE: 4000

JANET: 5000

Janet looked on interested. Why make such a big fuss about one card? Did he have a trick up his sleeve or was he trying to bluff this early in the match? _Stop it Jan, youll get no where over-analyzing every single move._

"My turn, Draw!" called out Janet.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME: 12:50PM 

Terry had decided to get out of the house, he needed to really get some air. And he really needed to get started dueling and winning some Puzzle Cards. He was walking and looking at this new card of his courtesy of his Millennium Scale. He incidentally left it at home locked away and hidden. He had no place for it on his person and it literally weirded him out with that trick a little while ago.

"Well, I have a new card, too bad its blank…" he said to himself as he walked. "Maybe its some kind of clue…" He looked the card over more carefully. It felt the same as a usual Yu-Gi-Oh! Card, the back of it was just the same as a regular card too. Comparing it to a monster from his deck as he walked, it basically looked like his mystery card was a Normal Monster card. It was the light yellow/tan color that signified a Normal Monster. But that was the only thing he was able to tell from the card. It had no level stars on it to, no attack and defense numbers, no picture, not even a description. The only thing on the card that made it 'identifiable' was the fact that the type was included. Whatever kind of card this was, it was a Dark Type monster. But that didn't help much; there were plenty of Dark Type monsters in the game.

Terry slipped the card into his deck holder on his belt. _I know there is some kind of explanation for that card. A blank Dark Type and apparently normal monster card. I wonder what Shadi would have to say about it. Meh, forget it. I should be focusing on finding the next guardian and getting the Millennium Items. I'm the Guardian of Future History, its my 'duty' to protect it. Now the question is, just how do I find these other Guardians?_

Terry had walked into the downtown general area. A thought occurred to him, maybe he would find something at that plaza that most of these duelists were heading. Even as he thought it, he saw a few of the smaller kids led by parents heading in that direction. But as he started to walk onward again, he headed North. _I don't think the Guardians are real public people. And our business isn't public either. My guess is to head away from people and ill find just the guys I need to find. At least that's the plan. I don't expect to run into Knowledge out this way anyway, he's probably way ahead of my 2 Puzzle Cards..._

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME: 12:50PM 

Janet looked at her drawn card, Polymerization. And in her hand she had one part to her desired fusion. But the other still rested in her deck. But as soon as she played it, Catravious wouldn't be nearly as confident as he looked.

"Ill play Blade Knight (1600/1000) in attack mode." called Janet.

"Just what I was waiting for!" said Knowledge.

"What?" asked Janet.

"Heh, check this out. Reveal Trap Card, Ceasefire!" said Knowledge.

Janet watched as her face down Nimble Momonga's were forced into face up defense position from Ceasefire's activation. Then all three of her monsters and Catravious' Element Dragon glowed and turned to look at her. She gasped and was completely surprised at that and her poor heart jumped a second. Then she heard a beeping noise and looked to her Duel Disk to see her Life Points drop from 5000 to 3000.

She had to calm herself down. She was only down 1000 Life Points from Catravious. And the second turn has barely started. _OK, Jan, just don't start losing it. He's made a big opening mistake so make him pay for it!_

"OK Catravious, its still my move. First, ill turn both of my Nimble Momonga's to attack mode. Blade Knight (1600/1000) is still stronger than your Element Dragon (1500/1200). He will attack!"

Blade Knight glided across the field and made short work of the dragon. But as the polygons cleared, Knowledge saw two other monsters trailing right behind Blade Knight, heading right for him.

"And since your field is open, ill attack directly with my 2 Nimble Momonga's! 1000/100"

The two little flying rats got right up into Knowledge's face and as they passed, they bared little claws that came so close to him he raised his arms in defense. He seemed to forget that they couldn't hurt him though. He heard that beeping of his Life Points counting down, dropping him to 1900 Life Points.

KNOWLEDGE:1900

JANET: 3000

"And at this moment," Janet said, pointing down to her face down card, "Ill activate this! Activate Trap, Reckless Greed!"

"Reckless Greed?" questioned Knowledge.

"Right, this trap can let me draw 2 more cards from my deck," she said as she slipped 2 more cards from her deck to her hand, "but in exchange I cannot draw a card in my Draw Phase for the next 2 turns."

"Meh, such an unwise card to use." Knowledge lamented.

"You know," she said with some sauciness to her usually to this point timid voice, "for someone that likes to be called 'Knowledge', you could use a clue."

"What?" asked Knowledge, now a bit on the defensive.

"You could have maybe saved yourself 2000 points of damage from this last turn! But for whatever reason, you exposed yourself!" she yelled.

* * *

"She makes a strong point, BOY!" a voice called out from the crowd around Knowledge and Janet. Knowledge whipped his head around looking for the speaker. A guy wearing sunglasses and a tan jacket and pants to match caught his attention and he stared at this guy. The guy stepped forward away from the group that had stepped back from him a little bit. Knowledge noticed two things immediately about him that just dropped his jaw, very very anime style. One was that he was wearing a Duel Disk and the second one was his golden hair that contrasted against his brown skin. Even with the sunglasses, Knowledge knew him immediately. 

"You're Lamar Vega!" he exclaimed.

The entire crowd around them focused their attention on Lamar Vega. The whispers started as the kids looked at their modern day Yu-Gi-Oh! Idol and the older kids looked at one the best duelists to play the game. The living King of Games. But Vega was completely oblivious to the whispers and took another step past the ring of onlookers.

"If you had any common sense, you'd know that if you had waited, you would have maybe avoided that direct attack. But you blew it. Typical." He sneered.

"Watch it!' called out Knowledge.

"Watch yourself, BOY!" commanded Vega.

"What!" snapped Knowledge.

"You call yourself a duelist and in the first turn you make a rookie mistake. Keep the pressure on, let that Trap Card stay down until the end of that girl's turn and you keep a wide lead on your opponent's Life Points!"

Knowledge continued to stare but the words hit home. He probably did jump the gun on that.

"Listen, all of you!" bellowed Vega, "The weak have no place in this tournament! They will be the first to go!" Vega took off his sunglasses and looked directly at Knowledge as he continued. "Weak duelists have no right to carry the pride of strong duelists! And clueless, strategy-less, stumbling duelists like this have more practice to look forward to!"

Vega turned to leave the field, and almost like royalty, the crowd split and allowed him to pass. _Terry's friends don't have nearly the talent as I would have expected. And as far as I see, he's the only one worth the challenge to find in this city..._

* * *

Knowledge just looked on as Vega left the area and all eyes turned back to him and Janet. He could see Janet out of the corner of his eye, her hands on her hips and with a look that said it all. Or actually, said what Vega had just declared. He knows good and well why he did that mistake. He actually did it on purpose. And because he got taken in by that shy nature of Janet's. 

But when he turned back toward the field and toward Janet, he didn't see a shy girl anymore. He saw a duelist. And he was treating her like a little girl.

"I'm sorry." said Knowledge.

"Hm?"

"I didn't treat you fairly at all." he said, not caring what the crowd heard.

"What are you talking about?" asked Janet, some of that sauciness going away.

"I didn't take you seriously when I started this duel." he mumbled.

"Why?" she said.

Knowledge remained silent. That silence gave Janet her answer and she had to both hold in some frustration and mask some embarrassment in her voice.

"Look, Catravious," she said, refusing still to call him Knowledge, "when I step out here and strap this Duel Disk to my arm, im not a girl anymore. If that's all you see when you come out here, then maybe Vega is right that you need practice. Because when I step out here, regardless of anything else that I might feel, I see the person that stands across from me as one thing only, an enemy."

Knowledge heard her voice rise just a little when she finished that statement…

"But if you don't want to fight against me seriously," she continued, "then you aren't deserving of that nickname or the title of a duelist."

Janet picked up a card from her hand. "I'll set one reverse card and end my turn."

Knowledge, very silently, thanked Vega and Janet for that awakening. He knew what they had said was true, and if he even wanted to achieve anything close to being a top duelist, as that was his goal, he had to learn that there was still things he could be taught.

"My turn! Draw!" called Knowledge.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 12:55PM 

Jamie was asleep. He was having a pretty nice dream too. He was dueling against Terry again and it was a highly contested match. But much like reality, the smallest things seem to pull you from your dreams. Jamie, in that half conscious state, felt that he wasn't alone in his room anymore. That little nagging slipped him from his dreams to being awake in his hospital room. He lazily looked around at his surroundings he had become so used to in the last couple of days and saw that the blinds had been pulled in. Light from the afternoon sun streamed inside the room from the vertical blinds. He didn't immediately notice the girl that was standing by the door but became aware of her because of one thing.

She wore the Millennium Ring.

Jamie's eyes got as big as saucers. And even then they could have gotten bigger. But Re'-Sha stood there unmoving and silent. Jamie however could hear his breathing audibly and heard his heart thumping against his ribs, as if it were trying to bust out of there.

"Jamie Cantou, right?" Re'-Sha said.

"Get away from me…" whispered Jamie.

Re'-Sha moved from the doorway and started coming toward him.

* * *

_Female duelists, and i mean real ones, are hard to come by in my experience of the game. But the ones that play seem to always be just plain better than most. I got inspired by that kind of thought when i created Janet, a girl that is just as good as her fellows but she isnt a fellow, you know? _

_Still, the duel's just begun and she's thrown Knowledge off. Will he be able to get back on the horse? Where's Terry gonna find his next Guardian to challenge? And what is re'-Sha going to do to Jamie!_

_For once, ALL these questions will be answered in the next chapter. Check in soon for a chapter called Descent of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	12. Descent of the Blue Eyes White Dragon

_Disclaimer: I just had a random thought when i was about to put up something witty here. Just who came up with the blasted idea of a disclaimer? Isn't flattery enough when we write with other peoples ideas? Aw whatever, kids. I'll just leave it at that i dont have enough money to buy it even if i wanted. Poor me..._

_Hmm...well we left off with Knowledge in his first match in Battle City...and he made that classy mistake of treatinga woman, well, like she was soft. Women hate that, you know? Hell hath no fury and all that, ne? So after a little interruption by Vega, old Knowledge got schooled in front of all his duelist peers. Well, lets see how he reacts and finishes out the duel._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 12: Descent of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon

Knowledge was back on the attack, the confrontation between him and Lamar Vega and he and Janet made him realize that he wasn't taking this as seriously as he should be. But he had learned from both of them that he still had much to learn before he became a top duelist. A lot more.

He looked at his current situation. He was trailing in Life Points 1900 to Janet's 3000. His field was empty but Janet had her 2 Nimble Momonga's (1000/100) out and a Blade Knight (1600/1000) as well. He was starting over with a heavy handicap against him but he would not lose so early.

"Ill summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" called out Knowledge. _But if I attack the weak Nimble Momonga (1000/100), her Life Points will still raise. After taking 900 points of damage from an attack, she'll regain 1000 points, still netting in an increase of 100 Life Points._

"Luster Dragon (1900/1600), attack her Blade Knight (1600/1000)!" said Knowledge.

Luster Dragon bared its sapphire fangs and growled as light began to seep out between its teeth. It aimed its head then at Blade Knight and let loose a beam that hit him square on the chest. Janet stood her ground, unfazed as her Life Points reduced to 2700.

"That will end my turn." said Knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE: 1900

JANET: 2700

"My turn!" called out Janet. Due to the effect of playing Reckless Greed, she could not draw a card this turn. But she was pleased however, she had gotten what she needed from the extra drawing as she looked over her hand. She looked toward Catravious and appreciated that he was taking her seriously now.

But he had learned pretty quick that he should take her very seriously. And she prepared to make a move to make him even more aware of that fact.

"OK, Catravious…"

Knowledge didn't let on just how much that name annoyed him.

"Activate Spell! Polymerization!" said Janet, pointing to her now vertical and standing fusion card.

"Polymerization..." said Knowledge to himself.

"I will fuse, from my hand, the cards Maryokutai (900/900) and Zombyra the Dark (2100/500). Can you tell what monster im calling, Catravious?"

Knowledge didn't answer since his jaw wasn't connected to his mouth anymore. He watched at the field began to darken around them and it became almost like night. Light shone from above and Knowledge and the rest of the onlookers looked up as a planet not like any began to glow and shake.

"From a world far far away, a planet that was under constant war finally doomed themselves to destruction…" narrated Janet as she too watched.

The planet then got very bright and then exploded. It was eclipsed in a bluish light that seemed to devour the planet and shrunk to the size of a period but then exploded in a flash of light and rock that scattered everywhere. But Knowledge saw it, a light that had escaped.

"But there was a single survivor…"

Everyone looked as another light appeared skyward pretty much behind Janet and rapidly grew bigger and bigger. Then it collided with the Earth and created a crater where it had impacted. Instantly, Janet's monsters on her field were destroyed. Only a smoking hole was on her side of the field. And a hand made its way out of that crater. That hand revealed a yellow skin that in places was covered in metal. The head, the same color but with no hair also appeared and red blazing eyes glared at Knowledge. He took a nervous step back and the creature fully emerged from the crater.

"That single survivor was The Last Warrior from Another Planet! (2350/2300)"

_The Last Warrior..._ Knowledge thought to himself. _Just what can I do to that thing?_

"You just saw one of the effects of The Last Warrior, when it is summoned, all my monsters are destroyed immediately. But as long as it's on the field, neither player can't summon any more monsters."

Knowledge groaned audibly.

"It's my Battle Phase. Last Warrior (2350/2300), attack his Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!"

Last Warrior raised that metallic arm of it's and balled its hand into a fist. Pretty quickly, a purple energy spotted with black spots began to surround that fist. It looked at its own fist and then at the Luster Dragon. Knowledge heard it let out an awful growl, like it had liquid in its throat and it crossed the field and buried that fist into his dragon's chest. Nothing happened for a moment but then his monster started to turn the same shade of spotted purple and black that was on its fist. His dragon let out a roar as it was destroyed. Knowledge watched his Life Point counter drop down to 1450.

KNOWLEDGE: 1450

JANET: 2700

"How do you like that?" asked Janet.

"Not bad, but it's not the end of the world." smiled Knowledge.

Janet smiled, "Yet. But with one more attack, it will end yours!"

* * *

Knowledge looked in his hand at his 4 cards. Kaiser Sea Horse (1700/1650), Dragon Rage, Mystical Space Typhoon and his key card, Different Dimension Gate. 

_Different Dimension Gate_

_Group: Spell Card_

_Type: Spell_

_Icon:Continuous_

_Select 1 Monster Card each from you and your opponent's sides of the field and remove them from play. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, return those monsters to the field in the same battle position as when they were removed from play._

Different Dimension Gate would let him get rid of The Last Warrior but only until either he destroyed his own card or, more likely, she destroyed it. The idea didn't warm him.

"My turn! Draw!" called out Knowledge. He looked at the drawn card and smiled for a moment. He then took another card from his hand.

"Last Soldier prevents me from summoning monsters while it's on the field, but it doesn't stop me from laying them face down. I'll set this monster face down."

"It's an oversight that I can take care of, Catravious."

"Can you?"

"Huh?" questioned Janet, wondering what he was getting at.

"One reverse card," said Knowledge, a card appearing on his far right, "and then I'll use this Spell Card, Different Dimension Gate!"

Janet didn't know this card and watched as first Catravious' Spell Card materialized on the field. Then as it began to glow, a machine just like the one of the face of the card appeared in the middle of the field. A steel and multicolored looking base with a blue arc on top of it. The space in the middle of the arc began to glow with colors of red, yellow and blue.

Then the machine started to pull in both of their monsters. Knowledge's reverse monster went with no question but Janet's fought to stay on the field.

"What are you doing?" demanded Janet.

"Different Dimension Gate allows me to remove one monster from both of our fields from the game. Since we each have only one monster on the field, you have no choice! The Last Warrior is gone!"

Just as he said it, her monster lost its grip and slipped into the arc and disappeared much like his reverse monster.

Knowledge continued, "For as long as this card stays on the field, both of our monsters will stay removed from the field. But if this card is destroyed, both of those monsters will return to the field in the same positions as when they left. That will end my turn."

Janet looked at him carefully. She didn't want to say the obvious but he left himself totally open save that reverse card. Was he thinking right?

"My turn!" Again, Janet didn't draw a card. But this was the last turn for the effect of Reckless Greed. In her next turn, she would be able to draw in her Draw Phase. But she might not even need to. His Life Points were only at 1450, one direct attack and it would be over.

"Attack mode! Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/700)" said Janet.

_Show me everything you've got!_ she said to herself.

"Direct Attack!" she commanded.

Knowledge saw Kycoo seem like it was chanting some kind of spell with its hands pressed together like in a prayer. Then it stopped chanting and then shot its palms outward and he saw the 'invisible' shot of energy heading his way.

"Reveal Trap!" called out Knowledge, swinging his arm toward the face down card on his side.

Janet let out a gasp as she heard it and the onlookers all jumped when it hit their ears, a ear-splitting sound that stopped everyone dead in their tracks. Even the attack of Kycoo started to fade away and dissipated into nothing.

"My Trap Card is Threatening Roar. This card prevents you from having a Battle Phase during the turn that it's activated."

"Stalling for time?" accused Janet.

"Think what you want, Janet! I'm not going to just give up! You're going to have to work to defeat me if you can!" Knowledge snapped.

Janet growled under her breath. He hadn't made one move to take control of this duel yet and she was starting to feel the frustration building.

"I'll set 2 reverse cards and end it there." said Janet.

_Now she has no cards in her hand and just her Kycoo and two reverse cards out on the field,_ thought Knowledge. _But I haven't got anything to take advantage of it yet. I have to be a little more patient. I have to come up with something. And soon._

"My turn! Draw!" said Knowledge. "And ill end it there."

Murmurs went up as soon as he said it but he ignored them. He would definitely survive another turn. Definitely. He saw Janet looking at him. He did nothing but stared back.

Janet saw that he hadn't given up. Obviously she questioned his move but for whatever reason, she knew he wasn't ready to give up. So she said nothing.

"My move! Draw!" Reckless Greed's effect was now over and she could draw cards again. And she drew a beauty.

"For my move, ill summon Fusilier Dragon, The Dual Mode Beast! (2800/2000 L7)" said Janet.

Knowledges eyes went up, "Have you forgotten that you need to sacrifice for monsters that are Level 5 or higher?"

"Course not, but this monster's effect allows me to summon it normally without a tribute, but it's attack power is halved for doing so."

_What? She doesn't have a monster that can finish me? I'll still have 50 Life Points left if she attacks!_

"But there's another reason I played that monster. Activate Spell! Metamorphesis!" said Janet as her card came up on the field and a white capsule surrounded her Fusilier Dragon.

"Metamophesis!"

"You know this card, don't you Catravious? By offering a monster on my field as a tribute, I can Special Summon a Fusion Monster of a level equal to the one that I sacrificed. And the monster I choose…"

The white capsule began to fade away and her Fusilier Dragon had transformed itself into another Last Warrior from Another Planet (2350/2300). As soon as the capsule faded away, Janet's Kycoo started stepping backwards away from The Last Warrior. But it turned and looked at Kycoo. Rays shot out of The Last Warrior's eyes that destroyed Kycoo instantly.

"Last Warrior's special effect…" Knowledge said aloud to himself.

"This is it! The Last Warrior from Another Planet! Direct Attack!" said Janet pointing right at Knowledge.

The Last Warrior raised its arms and that purple and black energy started to collect in its hands again. When it brought its hands down, it fired a rifle shot of energy at Knowledge. Janet smiled. Knowledge stepped back in nervous fear.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 1:00 PM

_Twtt...tweet..._

Terry heard it again. That noise. He had heard it before when he had found Scale waiting outside of his house.

He was walking along the street in the northern section of town. This side of the side of the city was more toward storage and warehouses. And not a lot of people. So when he saw the figure in the street dressed a lot like Scale was, he knew he was on the right track.

But as he walked toward it, he was scoping out his surroundings. The figure started walking backwards, still looking toward Terry and turned to walk into a wide area that looked to be between two warehouses. When the figure disappeared out of sight, Terry stopped a moment. He looked around closely. He was looking for Re'-Sha just in case she had followed him here. But he saw no signs of her. Or maybe just not yet.

_At least I know I wasn't crazy when I heard that noise before I found Scale. Maybe this Millennium Puzzle has some kind of power...that it lets me know when im close to a Guardian? Maybe when im close to a Millennium Item too. Least I hope its like that since I don't want to believe that im hearing things._

Terry turned the corner and like he had thought, it was simply an big open space between the two warehouses. Crates and palettes were leaning against the sides of the warehouses and the area was just as he thought it was going to be, deserted and isolated.

"Nice weather today, ne?" said Terry.

* * *

The blast from her Last Warrior's attack kicked up enough dust to cover Catravious' entire field. There were 'ooohs' heard in the crowd and a few other duels stopped for a moment to see what had just happened. Janet stood there, unmoving. She wasn't convinced the duel was over until he saw Catravious admit it was over. But she couldn't see anything through the slowly settling dust. But a good indicator was that Catravious' Different Dimension Gate machine hadn't disappeared…

Which would mean he still had Life Points.

"How?" asked Janet to Catravious through the dust. She could make out his silhouette.

"Well I did say that you'd have to work to beat me. In that last attack, I used the special effect of this card." she heard him say.

"Which card are you talking –"

"Kuri-Kuri!" a little voice piped.

"Oh no!" said Janet, Catravious' body now visible along with the little Kuriboh that floated alongside him.

"By discarding Kuriboh (300/200) from my hand, I can reduce the amount of damage I take from a monsters attack to 0." she heard him say. As the smoke cleared away more, she could see the little dancing monster floating alongside Catravious and making more of those noises before it became a white dot that floated into the graveyard of a smiling duelist standing in front of her.

_I'll have to give it to him. He was right when he said I would have to work to defeat him. This duel has been pretty eyeopening I guess._ Janet thought and smiled to herself.

_Totally lucky,_ meanwhile thought Knowledge to himself, a slight frown on his face, _But im running out of time and outs. And with The Last Warrior again on the field, there isn't a monster that I can summon to defend myself with._

"So what's your next move, Janet? Im still in the game." egged on Knowledge.

"Very true, how long is the better question…" she said, pointing at her other reverse card. "Activate Trap! Reckless Greed!" and she drew 2 more cards to add to her at that point, empty hand. Her hand now consisted of Pot of Greed and Lightning Vortex. _Come on, give me the clincher..._

"From my hand, I activate this Spell Card, Pot of Greed!"

And from this effect, Janet's hand now consisted of Lightning Vortex, Maryokutai (900/900) and Fusion Gate. _Nothing really helpful...but he only has 2 cards in his hand. He cant summon a monster, only set. And he trails in Life Points._

"Catravious?" called out Janet.

"Hmm?"

"Its all on the line now. The next turn is gonna tell us the winner. Be it me or you, I just wanted to tell you that you have been playing a great match. That's all."

Knowledge didn't believe his ears. "What are you getting at, Janet?"

"I know that after this match, we probably will be going separate ways and that I wouldn't get a chance to see you afterwards. So I just wanted to say that, that's all."

"Janet, I don't even know what the next turn is gonna bring. I play by the moment. No fairy tales, no 'heart of the cards', no….'miracles'" and he thought of Terry, "But you have been playing great too. Let the best player win! My turn! Draw!"

"Heh, guess there's a bit of Déjà vu in the air." said Knowledge showing Janet his drawn card, Pot of Greed. He drew 2 more cards from his deck and looked into his hand. He looked hard because he felt that he had drawn a combo that could win him the duel. He could win but for it to even be pulled off…he needed 3 turns!

_Unfortunately, it's the only option I have. But that's better than nothing!_ Knowledge thought."OK, lets do this! Reveal Quick-Play Spell Card!"

Janet saw the card materialize on the field, "Mystical Space Typhoon?"

"Mystical Space Typhoon allows me to destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field."

She watched as she saw the cyclone start to dance on the field. It initially made its way toward her but then it stopped and turned, right toward Catravious' Different Dimension Gate.

"What! Your own card?" Janet said awestruck.

Knowledge didn't say anything. Different Dimension Gate was picked to pieces by the cyclone and most of the pieces had been sucked away by the disappearing cyclone. But that blue arc that had sucked in one of each of their monsters was still there. The field was still a moment after the cyclone then that arc, damaged, started to rattle and in a flash, Janet's first Last Warrior emerged standing over the top of the arc. It walked over toward Janet's field while a reverse monster appeared and floated casually toward Knowledge's side of the field.

"Since this Last Warrior was not summoned, only returned to the field, your effect doesn't kick in and you have two Last Soldiers on the field."

Janet was supremely confused, _why return my monster to me?_

Knowledge looked at his hand, at one monster card that he was about to use. _I'll show you my real power!_

"I will set one reverse card and sacrifice that reverse monster for another reverse monster."

The face down card began to glow white and shrunk itself down into a dot and disappaeared. Then another face down monster card appeared where it the first one was before.

"That ends my turn."

_2 turns to go..._

"Hmm…" Janet said. "Really sneaky move there, Catravious. My turn! And again, I cant draw from Reckless Greed. But I wont be intimidated. Last Warrior (2350/2300), attack that reverse monster! (?)"

Another beam shot from The Last Warrior's hands and connected with the face down monster card. But when Janet looked at him, Catravious was smiling. No way! She immediately began to worry, what had she done? And as she was worrying, she almost missed the sound of her Duel Disk counting off Life Points. She had been reduced from 2700 to 2550.

KNOWLEDGE: 1450

JANET: 2550

"Let me show you the monster you took 250 points of damage from attacking!" said Knowledge. "Reveal Reverse Monster! Blue-Eyes White Dragon! (3000/2500)"

Janet watched as the monster card that her Last Warrior, which was still attacking, just start glowing white and ominous looking. The attack from her monster started to flicker and then was just ended. Light shot out of the card upwards and expanded and then faded as soon as it appeared. A dragon's body, still encased in a white shell was hovering above the card. Then the body, that blue steel color, started to appear. Along with the wings. And the arms. Then the head and those blue eyes. It was all there and let out a vicious roar to announce its descent to the field.

"Let me show you MY deck's best monster! My Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"Blue-Eyes!" exclaimed Janet. "How! Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a Level 8 monster that needs 2 sacrifices to be summoned! You summoned that monster in reverse with one sacrifice!" stated Janet.

"Ah, that's true…" Knowledge said as a card ejected from his graveyard in his Duel Disk. He took hold of it and showed it to Janet, pinched between his index and middle finger. "But look at this card, Janet."

Janet looked across the field at the card Catravious was showing her. She could see it was a monster card that had an effect but she hadn't seen this card before.

"My monster that I sacrificed was my Kaiser Sea Horse (1700/1650). True, Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a monster that requires 2 monsters to be sacrificed, but Kaiser Sea Horse's effect then comes into play. When it is used in a sacrifice summon when the monster to be summoned is a Light-Type monster, this monster can count as 2 monsters instead of 1."

"Blue-Eyes…is a Light-Type monster isn't it?" asked Janet.

Knowledge nodded.

"So when you used that Different Dimension Gate, you were buying time and preparing to have a monster to call your Blue-Eyes when you had him?"

Knowledge didn't answer.

"Fine. Well, its going to be a short lived meeting. It's still my move. Activate Spell Card! Lightning Vortex!" said Janet. The entire field started to get black and clouds started to darken.

"I'll discard one card from my hand," she said as she did it, her last card Knowledge noted incidentally, "and destroy all of my opponent's face up monsters on their field."

A single shot of lightning hit down of the field quite near to Blue-Eyes. Then two more shot down, one in front and one in the back of the dragon. Then they came down very quickly, a storm of lightning strikes that surrounded Knowledge's monster then a bigger bolt came down in a yellow flash and his Blue-Eyes had disappeared without a trace, thus clearing the skies.

"Your monster is gone, you have one card on the field and one card in your hand. Ill end my -" said Janet.

"Are you certain that my Blue-Eyes is gone?"

"What?" said Janet.

"I asked if you're sure that Blue-Eyes," he said, "is gone?" and as he finished, Janet saw he was pointing to a face up Trap Card on his field.

"Magic Drain?" asked Janet.

"That's right. This Trap Card can negate the activation of a Spell Card but it requires a cost. If you can discard one Spell Card from your hand, your Spell Card is not negated. However, if you cannot, your Spell Card is negated and destroyed."

"You…" growled Janet.

"And since you have no cards in your hand to just activate the effect of Lightning Vortex, I can negate its effect and save my Blue-Eyes." he said as he looked upward to watch his dragon hovering above the field looking down on the two Last Warriors and Janet.

"From my hand I play this card! Spell Card! Burst Stream of Destruction!" said Knowledge. "This Spell Card can only be activated when there is a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field. Blue-Eyes can destroy all of my opponents monsters on their field."

"You mean…" started Janet.

"Blue-Eyes!" called out Knowledge.

Blue-Eyes, still hovering over the field, began to lower closer to the ground and as it lowered, it opened its mouth as if to roar again but this time, energy started to collect in its mouth. It crackled wildly in the gap between its gleaming teeth and its head shook from the power collecting.

"Blue-Eyes! Burst Stream of Destuction! Destroy them!" said Knowledge, pointing at the twin Last Warriors. As Blue-Eyes made its final descent to the field, it let loose the energy it had been collecting in a wide, almost triangular array that totally surrounded the two Last Warriors. He looked into the beam for the two monsters but couldn't see them. As the attack ended, all that stood on the opposite side of the field was Janet. Knowledge and Janet said nothing and the stillness and silence afterwards was agonizing for the crowd. Janet was the first to speak and the bite that her voice had had throughout this duel had disappeared. Like she had 'reverted' to her formerly shyer self.

"Burst Stream of Destruction has another effect. In the turn that it's activated, Blue-Eyes cannot attack in the turn that card is played. Blue-Eyes is the only monster on your field."

Knowledge just looked on and said nothing.

"But I've made the bigger mistake. You were right about Reckless Greed." she said dryly. "I cannot draw a card for another turn. And I have no cards in my hand. I'm not going to drag this out. I only have 2550 Life Points left. I pass my turn."

"My turn! Blue-Eyes! Attack Janet Directly!" Knowledge, out of respect for her not dragging her turn out made his next move quickly. Blue-Eyes again gathered energy for an attack in its mouth, that light casting shadows over the field. Knowledge called for Blue-Eyes to attack and a beam flew from its mouth directly for Janet. And it exploded before her face to kick up a great explosion of light and fire. The sound of a Duel Disk counting down over the noise of the lasting explosion signified that the duel was over. Janet's Life Points fell to zero.

KNOWLEDGE: 1450

JANET: 0

"I win, Janet." said Knowledge meekly, not really sure what to expect from her.

"Beautiful win, Knowledge." Janet said, walking toward him.

_Did she just call me Knowledge?_ He thought to himself.

"I know that I have to give up my Puzzle Card for losing but…" she dug into her pocket and held out her hand, which had 2 Puzzle Cards.

"Wait a second." Knowledge started, holding his hands up in defenseand backing away from her.

"I want you to have both of these Puzzle Cards." she said, forcing them into Knowledge's hands and pushing them against his chest.

"But why?" he asked.

She didn't look at him, rather at the cards she had enclosed in his hands. "I didn't really enter this tournament for winning, just for dueling. And I feel….satisfied that that was the best duel I've ever had. I still have Puzzle Cards to wager, I can still play."

"Janet…"

"So I don't want to hear any reason that you won't take them." she snapped.

"Well, it's not that. It's…" started Knowledge.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, where's the Rare Card?"

SHOOSH! FWHAP!

* * *

_Heh, Knowledge might be a pretty good dueling talent, but his game is still weak. Gotta cheer for the underdog!_

_There's one thing that i just wish i had at this point. I wrote this chapter some time ago...years ago. A woman that wouldnt laugh at my face for asking how girls react wouldnt have been too bad. But i think i made out well with Janet. She reminds me of that kinda hot girl in school that just didnt talk. Maybe you all have one in school/work too!_

_Ah, some of you might not like the selection of Blue-Eyes as Knowledge's main monster. But to me, it makes perfect sense. Since this story has nothing to do with Yugi and stuff, Blue-Eyes is a fairly common card but still one of the most powerful. How would a guy who doesnt 'believe' ignore power like that? To me, its not possible. Plus i had a small grudge to settle. I wanted to put out a character who played with a Dragon deck and wasnt a total powerhouse. Sick of them; powerhouses are boring, flawed kids are so much better for this!_

_So now Knowledge has, lucky guy, three Puzzle Cards and Terry has two, with another Guardian to tackle. But this one is a much different person all around from Scale. As seemed to be the case with him, he was a Guardian first and foremost. This new guy...well..ah...em..he a-a...he's a Chef! o.0 But trust me, this aint no Emeril Lagasse! Find out about this chef, what happened to Jamie, what's Knowledge's next move and some other things! Check in soon for the next chapter, The Guardian Chef!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	13. The Guardian Chef

_Disclaimer:..._

_"Say it!"_

_"Aw fine...I don't own the bloody thing!"_

_Lawyers disappear. I hate lawyers, fricking leeches..._

_Anyways, i was in a updating mood even though i put a new chapter up recently. After this weekend, i should be able to finish actually writing this story and just spend time proof-reading it and all. I definitely won't be working with all the time on my hands, lol._

_So we get to meet a intriguing character. One i dont think has been seen in the actual Yu-Gi-Oh! series or hardly any fanfictions. Who want's to write about a chef anyway? -Raises his hand- I WOULD! But before that happens, let's find out about Jamie and his run in with Re'-Sha, huh?_

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 13: The Guardian Chef

TOURNAMENT TIME: 1:05PM

Jamie was up against the bed, his heart was pounding and he was sweating profusely. The same woman that had tried to kill him and Terry was standing in the room with him. She was just standing by the door. Even if he tried to make a break for it, hed have to go through her and he wasn't in the condition to take her on. Definitely not if she had some kind of magical powers.

"What do you want?" asked Jamie quietly.

"Heh he he…That's a funny question to ask. Sure you want the answer? Well Ill give it to you anyway. What I want most is to see your friend Terry suffer. Nothing would give me greater pleasure." she said, whispering the last sentence of her answer.

Jamie swallowed hard. Re'-Sha started walking away from the door to the opposite end of the room where the blinds were. She opened them fully and nearly blinded Jamie with the surge of sunlight that came into the room. He squinted and saw she was looking straight outside into the sun.

"What do you want with me?" asked Jamie.

"Ah, that's the question I think you wanted to ask in the first place huh? Well I can answer that too with the same answer. I want to see your friend Terry suffer." she turned away from the window and looked at Jamie. She walked over to the bed and sat on the end of it. It was then that Jamie could a better look at her. Either the shadows or bright sunlight had hidden her from view before. She seemed to be of an Asian descent with her slanted eyes and a small nose. Her hair was jet black and straight, seemed to hang about to the bottom of her neck. It hung in front of her face and she moved to sweep one side of it behind her ear. She had on a mini tee that was covered up by a jacket vest and the small sleeves of the shirt showed through the armholes. It looked like a silver jacket that was covering a deep purple halter top. He heard clicking when she stepped so he assumed there were heels attached to her feet and a very long dress that hung past where he could see, probably down to her ankles. Black and with slits down each side of her leg. If it had been anyone else, Jamie might have been tempted to ask a phone number. But not with this nut. And those freaky silver eyes were staring him right in the eyes. Jamie would swear that however the rest of this girl looked, those eyes…just made her inhuman.

"So I have a little gift for you." she said, leaning in closer. Jamie tried to back away but there was no place to go. She grabbed one of his hand with surprising force and told him to open his hand. Jamie complied and looked away from it, convinced he was about to lose his hand. But he felt no pain, just something being placed in his hand. He turned back around and saw his hand now contained 5 Puzzle Cards!

"What the hell!" he said looking back at Re'-Sha now, who was standing up looking down at him. But then something happened, she started to growl and she started to grab at her head like it was hurting her. She stayed like that for a few seconds then from underneath the jacket, he saw the outline of the Millennium Ring glowing.

"D-Don't…" she said. "Don't…..lettttt….it…win!

Jamie sat up out of his bed and tried to move away to the far side of his bed but before he could, she looked at him and stared for a minute. Then she let out a low groan and a dark cloudy mass started to climb over her. He could still hear the groaning through the clouds though he couldn't see her anymore. The light from the Millennium Ring was still there but none too bright through that stuff. Then it was silent, and the cloud slipped away silently. Jamie was stunned silent.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 1:10PM

The two of them stood there not saying anything. Terry personally, considering his last experience with a Guardian, wasn't eager to start up things. So he stood there, as if he had all the time in the world.

"Hey." called out the Guardian.

Terry just lifted his head, he was listening. The Guardian removed his garb and Terry got a look at the newest challenger. He was very unusually dressed. He had on black, plain looking shoes with black and white checkered pants, very small checkers though. A black belt and a clean and crisp white shirt tucked into those pants. But the man wore a open and unusually long chef jacket. It hung pretty close to knee length and made the impression that it was a trench coat. The sleeves were rolled up about to the elbows and on the left arm hung the usual Duel Disk.

The man turned around and seemed to call out to someone hidden by the warehouse to Terry's right. The man continued to call but no one came. Curious, Terry started walking to his left in order to peek around the corner.

"Don't you move!" the Guardian barked, not to the unseen person but to Terry. He froze in place and started walking backwards to middle ground as he could see the Guardian keeping an eye on him.

"Honey, he wont hurt you. And Dad wouldn't let him if he tried." the Guardian said quietly. Terry wondered for a moment about that. _He has an offspring?_

Quickly a very young girl dashed out from behind the warehouse carrying a cardboard box. She couldn't have been more than 10 years old if that by his estimate. She was pretty short and wore tan capris and a blue jeans jacket over those. He couldn't see a shirt below that but saw her blonde hair. Her face didn't come into view as she handed her Dad the box and then turned away immediately, back toward that warehouse. The Guardian watched her run off out of Terry's view then turned back to him. He put the box down and pulled out two newspaper wrapped items. He unraveled one, out of his view behind the box and then the other behind that box too.

He looked up to Terry and smiled and got back to both feet, holding 2 Millennium Items in his hands. The Millennium Rod and Millennium Ankh.

"Two Millennium Items!" shrieked Terry.

"Here's the deal. Ill bet you these 2 Millennium Items and 2 Puzzle Cards in our duel. If you win, you get the whole bang, all yours man. A nice little offer, huh?"

Terry was listening. He felt the hook coming.

"But if you win, I want you to take my life."

"Wait. Take your life?" questioned Terry.

"Yeah." said the Guardian.

"Why?" demanded Terry.

"No business for a Guardian like you!" he said.

"A person that wants to end his life before it's time? And have me do it? That's most definitely my business!" countered Terry.

"Enough. Accept it or refuse it." he said.

"Refuse." Terry said immediately.

The Guardian turned away from Terry and started walking away. Behind him was a small looking thing of water, something that looked like a pool just drilled into the concrete ground.

"This water leads no where, its pretty damn deep." he said, looking down at the water.

"Don't do it!" yelled Terry, now breaking into a run toward the man. But it was too late. He didn't even look back and tossed them nonchalantly into the water. Terry ran past the man but as he did, he unlocked his Duel Disk and let it clatter to the ground before he jumped off the edge and into the water.

_So damned cold..._ thought Terry at first. He looked through the water as he had taken a breath before diving in head first. He caught a glimpse of two golden items, sinking and fast. Terry took off down into the depths. He wasn't a very strong swimmer but he kept at it. _But at this rate, ill never get to them..._And then, nothing short of a miracle happened. For whatever reason, the Ankh and the Rod began to float and come toward his hands. His lungs were starting to strain for air so Terry didn't hesitate, he took both of them in his hands and stuffed them through his belt loops. He turned his head toward the surface, the sunlight shining above him his guide. Being an untrained swimmer, and almost halfway back to the surface, he exhaled a lot of his air before this point to ease his lungs. One quarter of the way there, he let out his last bit of air for maybe a moment's relief. He was still underwater and so close to oxygen. His instincts took over, and he started to panic, flailing wildly underwater. He wasn't moving much, just burning the little air left in his blood. He pinched his nose shut to keep himself from inhaling water and worked with one arm, air nearly gone, surface a few feet away.

Then he broke through and gulped in fresh air like a starving man. That first breath re-inflated his lungs and strained against his chest and he rested a moment floating on the surface of the water. When he was satisfied, Terry looked around and found the Guardian crouching on the edge of the water watching him and grinning.

"You find something funny here?" demanded Terry, floating on the water and wading himself back toward the low platform the Guardian was crouched on.

"Kid, watching you struggle to get back up was real fun to watch."

"….What?" growled Terry.

"And thanks for returning what's mine." he said, rising back up to his feet again and putting his hands into his pockets.

Terry fished into the water for the two items he just collected and held them up to the Guardian, both clenched in one hand. "You tossed these away! They're mine now!"

The Guardian said nothing but just stared a moment at Terry. For some reason though, Terry felt that the items were trying to slip out of his hands. He brought them in closer to his body but he had to use his other hand to keep himself afloat. They slipped away out of his grip and floated toward the Guardian, who now had an Eye of Annubis on his forehead.

"Might have thrown them but they're mine by right. And ill do what I want with them." said the Guardian.

"How did you do that?" asked Terry, still floating in the water.

The Guardian looked down at his Millennium Rod as he spoke, "I didn't."

"Wha?" was all Terry said.

"All of these things have a certain amount of dark energy in them. Seems to depend and differ between each item. Anyway, the user can manipulate that dark energy to do things. It only is really limited by your imagination." The Guardian said, not really answering Terry's question.

Terry listened intently. So since he was a user of an item, could he do some of these things? Shouldn't be a reason why he couldn't he figured. Later though. He swam for the edge of the water and hoisted himself out of the 'pool'. His figure was soaking wet and he felt three times heavier than normal with all the water on his clothes. The Guardian turned away and started walking away, alongside the backsides of the warehouses.

"You need to get out of those clothes, kid." he said.

Terry just stood there. _Whats this guys deal?_

Terry walked after him, his clothes sloshing along as he walked.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 1:30PM

Knowledge was walking away from the square, looking at his new Fusilier Dragon and beaming with pride. Now he had two Puzzle Cards and a new Rare Card to strengthen his deck. How nice that it was a dragon-type monster that would mesh with his deck. He looked at Janet who was now walking alongside him and smiled at her. She couldn't look at him and just walked on, facing the street in front of them.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Hmm?" asked Knowledge.

"Ever since we left, you've been just looking at that dragon and smiling like crazy."

"Well, I think of it this way. I won a very, very tough duel but made a friend out of the opponent. That sounds like a good enough reason to smile." he said, a grin on his face.

Janet chuckled, "I guess. So where are you heading now?"

Knowledge stopped. "Haven't really thought about it. My first plan was to head to that square but there aren't any other duelists there that would make it fair. So now that that place is off the list, it's pretty much up in the air."

"Do you have some friends in the tournament?" asked Janet.

"Yeah, my friends Terry and Jamie. Actually Jamie is in the hospital right now."

"Is he all right?"

Knowledge hesitated. He didn't think she would believe that he was there because he passed out from an attack from a monster from a card game. Or that they were paid a visit by Shadi. Or that there are real Millennium Items.

"Uh….he…uh..passed out…and h-had to spend some e-extra time there."

Janet looked at him closely, but said nothing as they continued to walk on.

"But I don't know where Terry is, though I know he's out dueling somewhere by now. And probably has about a dozen Puzzle Cards."

"You don't mean Terry Hairson, do you?" asked Janet.

"Yeah"

"I have heard a little about him. That he's a very good duelist and can seem to pull a win out of almost a total losing situation."

Knowledge laughed, "That's him. 'Miracles' as we call them. But I doubt that ill come across him in this tournament anytime soon. It's a pretty large city and we both have our own targets to go after."

"Targets?" Janet wondered.

"Yeah," said Knowledge, stopping and sitting down on the stairs to a big office building. "Terry's goal….he wants to find some certain duelists. Some pretty good ones I figure." he dared not mention the Shadi business.

"Jamie's goal, even though he's in the hospital, is to get to have another match against Terry. He's about one of the best challenges Terry has. "

"So what about…" started Janet.

"My goals huh? Well, mine is a little more complicated than theirs. One goal is to become pretty good in the game, a household name if you will."

"In other words, a hot dogger." stated Janet.

"No, but I see where youre coming from. I simply want some respect in this game, not much more than that."

"But you said that this was 'one' of your goals. What's the other one? Or ones?" she asked.

"Well, the other one was one I decided on while we were dueling. When Lamar Vega interrupted me." he said as he stood up. "I don't like being made a fool of and I won't take lip off a guy like him. Im going to find him in this city and I'm going to beat him."

Janet eyes widened. _He wants to take on the King of Games? And expect to win? Lamar Vega is so much more experienced in this game than most anyone. I heard he even went to Japan to watch tournaments and duels and learn from Japan's best. And I heard that he came back after learning and beat anyone he challenged. He's put together strategies and decks that have been copied all over._

"Penny for your thoughts." said Knowledge, looking out at the city.

"Huh?" said Janet, being pulled out of her thoughts.

Knowledge continued to look out at the people passing on the streets. "I can guess what you're thinking. But don't worry about it. When I find him, Ill gladly show him how much this 'boy' can do…"

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 1:45PM

Terry had been led to the back of a really nice restaurant place that seemed to be closed for the day. The back meaning the kitchen area, where the cooks and waiters and all the food came from. The place was almost completely white or silver. Silver stainless steel tables and stools and stand-up refrigerators, a giant cooler with a heavy looking door attached to it. The walls were washed white and there were shelves filled with all kinds of food stuffs on them. The kitchen held that food smell that made your mouth water, steaks grilling, sauces simmering, wines and spirits aflame in sauté pans.

But this kitchen was quiet. No one other than Terry and this Guardian were there.

"What's your name, kid?" asked the Guardian, hunkered over a coffee pot.

"Terry." he replied. He had since removed his old clothing for a pair of black slacks with an oversized white T-shirt, which was tucked into his pants. There was a dryer/washer that Stone had in his restaurant that he was using to clean up his clothes.

"Hmph…" was all he said.

"And yours?" asked Terry.

The man looked up from the drip coffee machine, pouring himself a cup. "Names Jurvicious Stone."

"Really?" said Terry.

Stone turned toward Terry, "Some reason why you wouldn't believe it?"

Terry didn't say anything. He basically just didn't like this guy. Stone got his coffee and sat on one of the stools that laid against a wall nearby. He brought it up to the table that Terry had been sitting on.

"So I guess youre that 'Future History' guy of legend and whatnot."

Terry jacked a thumb in his direction to say so.

"Feh…" he said and took a sip of his coffee. "You don't look like much. You definitely don't look like someone id be betting my future on."

Terry's eyes narrowed.

"So talk to me about this Future History business." Stone said.

"Thought you Guardians knew all about it. If anything, I need to know some things about Future History and these Millennium Items."

"Answer me first. Then I might get to your questions."

Terry was losing patience with this guy, he must think he's some kind of badass or something.

"What you want to know, Stone?" Terry said, eager to get this over with.

"First, who gave you that Millennium Puzzle?"

"A…friend." Terry said, actually talking about Shadi.

"How long ago?"

"A couple days ago."

"Know what kind of powers it has?"

"No."

"Do you sometimes hear a noise out of nowhere?"

"….Yeah." said Terry being reminded of when he first put the puzzle together. "Its only happened twice since I've had the Millennium Puzzle. Right before I ran into Guardians. I figured that besides whatever else it can do, it can sniff you Guardians out."

Stone shook his head, "Not the Guardians but the Items. They react to each other, a owner can tell when another owner is nearby."

"So you could do the same thing?" asked Terry.

"Not your turn, kid." said Stone, taking another sip of coffee. This enticed a low growl out of Terry.

"Now, what do you know about this other one? Re'-Sha?" asked Stone.

Terry looked down, then to his deck sitting in his Duel Disk. "I know that she's a certified psycho. A qualified duelist. An emotionless killer."

"A killer?"

"A Guardian I faced in a duel, she killed him. And laughed about it."

They both were silent a moment. Terry took that moment to remember the end of that duel. Those expressions on Scale's face. And especially the expression on Re'-Sha's face when she killed him.

"Re'-Sha Shiyth?"

Terry just nodded.

"For a while, I had you pegged as that person."

Terry looked down at Stone with a question mark replacing where his face might have been.

"All I knew was that there are 2 people out there looking to collect Millennium Items. One to 'save the world' or whatever and one to 'destroy it'. I figured it was the worst case scenario when you found me."

"So you've never met Re'-Sha then?" asked Terry.

"Nah, just rumors and whispers."

"So how were you so sure I wasn't her?"

"A woman huh? Well, anyways, remember how I asked you to kill me? Someone out to destroy the world wouldn't have a problem wasting me. The one looking to work to save it would though."

Terry smiled, glad that was just a test.

"Here's my question for you though," asked Terry. "Scale told me something about these Millennium Items. That whenever the owners duel, it becomes a Game of Darkness."

Stone nodded and stood up, stretched and leaned against the table Terry was still sitting on. He turned to face Terry as he spoke, "The Millennium Items are not as mystical as you might think. They're not for 'chosen ones' or limited to the 'relatives' of Guardians if you thought that. They were meant to be held by the best duelists in the world. Simple."

Terry mouth hung open a moment, _the best duelists in the world only get to own a Millennium Item? Then am i..._

"But when someone with a Millennium Item challenges another who ones one," continued Stone, "It becomes a Game of Darkness for a simple reason. Though the Game of Darkness can be tweaked to the user's desires, its original intention was to kill the weaker of the duelists. The loser."

Terry was speechless.

"It seemed to work pretty well. Unless you were thirsty for power, owners didn't challenge other owners. It seemed to scare off other normal duelists. Games of Darkness don't necessarily have to be played when dueling against a normal opponent but it made only the strongest and most confident even consider the challenge knowing the risk."

Terry again thought back to the duel he had against Scale. Of course he remembered the Game of Darkness but also how Re'-Sha had said something that nagged at him.

**_"Scale? This fool just has an appointment im helping him to keep."_**

_**"Appointment?"**_

_**"Yes, Death has come for him! Die Scale!"**_

Was he meant to die after that duel? And why he seemed to almost for a moment when that black cloud engulfed him that he had accepted what was going to happen to him?

"So when we duel…." started Terry.

"Yep, you could run the risk of losing your life."

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 2:30PM

Fresh air was a welcome change to the stuffy Lysol infested air that his hospital had provided Jamie. He stood a moment outside of the automatic doors and let the soft breeze brush off the last of the weariness he felt from his hospital stay. A fresh set of clothes had been delivered to him as he stood in his favorite pair of Air Force Ones over a pair of white baggy jeans. He wore a loose sleeveless shirt and an also sleeveless light blue hooded vest over it. He had asked for that vest for a particular reason. When he had bought it, he had an airbrush specialist stencil the Japanese Kanji on one side of his vest. He had the characters that represented 'dream' and 'fire' on the left side of his vest in bold black that contrasted against the flat tan. Both words mean a lot to Jamie even outside of a duel.

But here he was, now walking and about a block away from the hospital and he now had 6 Puzzle Cards, a unused Duel Disk and a very confused mind. The situation that he had witnessed with Re'-Sha just a few hours before had really messed his mind up. What would possess that woman to give him a free ride to the finals of the tournament? Her reason of 'To see Terry suffer' didn't seem to add up. Jamie personally wanted nothing more than to get to the end of the tournament and face off against Terry again. He knew that even though Terry had his own business to take care of, he wouldn't mind squaring off against him for the championship. But how would Terry be suffering from him going to the finals?

_Maybe she has some kind of plan...maybe to get rid of all of us to hurt Terry..._

Jamie dismissed that thought. There wasn't any point of worrying about it now. Re'-Sha was gone and Shadi was too. The only other person that might know something about what he just experienced with Re'-Sha was Terry. And theres no way of knowing where he was. So for now, Jamie decided he just needed to get on with the tournament.

And since he was a 'qualified' finalist now with his 6 Puzzle Cards, he decided to make it official. He fished the cards from out of his pocket and took a look at them. They all had the tiny little pictures of pieces of a map on them but also some numbers. He didn't notice that before. He stopped walking and held the Puzzle Cards in his hand shingled, one on top of the others. The numbers were all big numbers, 231, 425, 535, 256, 533, and 26. He remembered the no. 26 card belongs to him, the one that originally came with his Duel Disk. He remembered back to the broadcast where they explained the way the Puzzle Cards worked…

**_"As I just mentioned, each Duel Disk comes with 1 Puzzle Card. If you haven't found it by now, just eject your card graveyard to examine it. Within this Puzzle Card are the pieces of electronic transmitters. I won't get too technical but this is how the Puzzle Card system will work. Your goal in the tournament it to obtain 6 Puzzle Cards to qualify yourself for the finals but it will be more difficult. Whenever a duelist obtains 6 Puzzle Cards and enters them into their Duel Disk, a signal is sent that only makes that particular duelist eligible. Once the signal is received by us, we will lock that duelist in as a finalist."_**

**_"You are free to seek out any opponent you wish to duel with in the city. Duels can take place anyplace that you want to now. Each duelist that entered has a Duel Disk and have been registered with us. All duelists that have entered the tournament have been given a number that corresponds with our ranking systems. In other words, the number inscribed into your Duel Disks and your original Puzzle Cards represent your rank in the tournament."_**

But Jamie remembered something a little odd about this. Though they had said that each Puzzle Card that was originally yours had your rank on it, they had never explained why they had these numbers on them. There wouldn't be a need to include the number on the Puzzle Cards as well as the Duel Disks. They had to have some kind of use. He just couldn't think of what.

"Well, I got the Puzzle Cards. Let's see where the finals are…"

Jamie checked around for any other duelists and saw a couple walking along on their business looking for duels. He decided to head for some privacy so he couldn't be seen. There was a one lane street that was coming up that looked like it would offer up some privacy so he walked to the corner, took a quick look around for any other duelists and 'causally' walked down the street.

He walked until he had about went halfway down and stopped. There, he got out his Puzzle Cards again and set his Duel Disk into place. He hit a switch below the 5 triggers for the Spell/Trap zones to open the Field Spell zone. Then he slid 5 of the Puzzle Cards into the Spell/Trap zone, 1 card for each zone. Then he slipped the last one into the Field Spell zone and watched it automatically close itself.

The Duel Disk started humming. Kinda like a quiet motor working and just stayed that way for a few moments. Then the display for counting Life Points flashed a few times between black and white. Then the display read 'READY' and the humming got a little louder. 'SENDING' was the next message. Jamie waited. 'STATE NAME' was the next message.

"Jamie Cantou" he said to his Duel Disk.

'REPEAT' blinked the Duel Disk and Jamie obliged. The next message, 'ACCEPTED' and then a rolling message started to appear…

'YOU ARE…….DUELIST NO. ……..2 OUT OF 6……..TO BE ACCEPTED……..TO THE WAIT………FOR LOCATION………OF FINALS…….'

Jamie watched a Yu-Gi-Oh! Card, with the back of it facing him appear in front of him. In the center of it, a map started to play out of downtown. The entire downtown area was almost shaped like a square with streets that usually ran North-South or East-West. In other words, it was much more like a grid when you looked at a map of the downtown area. However, there were some exceptions. The main square sat nearly in the center of downtown with a bunch of tall buildings surrounding it. From that square if you went a few blocks East or West you would come to either of the two Millstone Towers, the largest skyscrapers in the city. If you were heading toward Tower 1, found on the west side of town, you would be in a kinda rundown area of downtown once you got past the business that crowded around the tower. That's the area where he was attacked by that Summoned Skull. Looking toward the second tower, that area had a warehouse area almost straight north of the tower and a little ways east of it was a well to do neighborhood where a lot of spoiled rich kids and adults went to. Looking back toward the center of the map, where the square sat, if you headed South of there, a small business district made its way around the square. To the south-east, a river cut through the area and a bridge connected the two. But the business and stores and clubs that lined that river refered to the area as The Flats. To the south-west, pretty much nothing. There was a big stadium that had been scheduled to be demolished and a lot of residential area, like his house along with Terry's and Knowledge's.

Jamie watched as a yellow blip came up on the map and he recognized it as where he was at now. A red dotted line then appeared on the map between him and an area that was in the vicinity of the North-East part of downtown. The rich-kids area. He saw on the map that it was pointing to a place that looked to take up 2 blocks of area. Jamie couldn't remember any kind of buildings or offices or anything like that in that area.

_So that's the location of the Finals...M'kay...So I know where it is, just not what it is._

Jamie looked down at his Duel Disk and saw that the triggers for the Spell/Trap zones were normal, unlighted, except one. There was some things Jamie wanted to know and he hoped he would get an answer. He pressed the trigger.

* * *

_I just want to point out something about Jurvicious Stone. When i wrote this chapter, i wanted to put a character in that was truly original. Somehow, i started thinking about my job and it seemed like a pretty nice choice. He's kind of an hole, but i love him like that. However, please, please, please dont think he's going to be using a deck with cards like Hungry Burger or Mystic Wok or something like that. That's just lame and not my style. _

_Also, i've hit 13 chapters with no reviews. Come on, i've seen stories on this site with one chapter with maybe 300 words with 10 reviews! It's nice to know that people are reading and maybe learn what i can do to make it better for you through reviews._

_The action heats up chapter to chapter! Jamie, without even playing in one duel, is a finalist to Battle City! Terry and Knowledge have some serious catching up to do! Something to wonder about until next time. Games of Darkness, they're Death Games against other owners of Millennium Items? Just what happened to Re'-Sha when she visited Jamie? How will Knowledge fare against the King of Games, Lamar Vega, in a duel he now wants with the king? Check in soon for the next chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History, a chapter called Terry vs. Stone: A New Kind of Game. _

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	14. Terry vs Stone: A New Kind of Game

_Disclaimer: (sounds of struggle come from behind a bathroom door) (random lawyer knocks) Um...Mr. Machine, we need you-_

_Ugggghhhhhhhhh...bleeeehhhhhhhh!...not mine...all credit to Kazuki Takahashiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..._

_Well now that i got that out of my system (made me sick to my stomach, ya know?) lets move on. Jamie, at the end of the previous chapter, made himself a finalist and Terry got a little more info about the Millennium Items in general. Let's catch up with Jamie first before seeing Terry engage Jurvicious Stone._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 14: Terry vs. Stone: A New Kind of Game

TOURNAMENT TIME 2:50 PM

Jamie pressed the trigger that was glowing on his Duel Disk and watched as a little mini-menu came up on the hologram of the map he had. Just what he was looking for!

The menu read 5 different options, 1. MAP, 2. FINALISTS, 3. PUZZLE CARDS, 4. PROFILES, 5. EXIT Each one of those options corresponded to a Spell/Trap trigger on Jamie's Duel Disk. He pressed the trigger for Finalists.

_There was one other person that has their 6 Puzzle Cards and the tournament hasn't even been going on for half a day yet. Wonder if it could have been one of the guys..._

Unfortunately, when the listing of registered finalists for Battle City tournament came up, there wasn't any kind of identifying information. All it stated was the duelists' rank and that that person had made it. Jamie recognized his number, 26, and saw the time that he had registered, his number and the other duelists' numbers that he had defeated. Well in a sense anyway since these Puzzle Cards were given to him. He took a look at the other already registered duelist. Whoever they were, they were ranked at No. 11. But this person had beaten a lot of people from around the same duelist ranking. They beat people from the rankings of 13, 23, 42, 12, 7, and even 4. So there was a duelist there that was seriously powerful. Jamie didn't find out what Knowledge's and Terry's rankings were before they set out but he figured they ought to be pretty high.

Jamie set his Duel Disk back to its resting point and walked from the alleyway where he was hiding back into the sunlight of the afternoon. Instead of heading to the North-East section of downtown where the finals were, he made his way south, heading for the Flats.

_I'm already registered for the finals and there's only one person there ahead of me. So there's no rush to get there. I think ill head down to the Flats and get in some practice duels. I know just the girl that can maybe help me out with that._

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 3:10 PM

Terry was still shaken up from the words Stone had said to him about the Millennium Items. Every duel in a Game of Darkness runs the risk of the loser being killed? Scale's duel against him made a lot more sense. Had he kept on going, he possibly could have been killed if not by the monsters attacks but by the end result of the game.

"Nervous?" asked Stone.

Terry looked at him but didn't answer him. Stone got up from the table and walked toward the kitchen's burners and ovens, his back to Terry's face.

"Ever seen a restaurant kitchen when its at its busiest? When there are orders coming in twice as fast as you can prepare just one?" he asked.

"What's that have to do with anything?" replied Terry.

"You'd maybe have to see it to realize how much pressure it is. Orders for things that are as simple as boiling pasta to making medium rare fillet mignon with burgundy mushrooms. Cooks yelling all around you, servers screaming for this and that, fires and ovens creating intense heat. Normal people would lose their minds. But there's something to be said about that 'chaos'. People that are good enough can find their own focus in that chaos. Chefs can zone in on their work, they can center in on what they need to do and not be bothered with the situation that is around them."

"Again, what's that –"

"If you're as good as your reputation precedes," cut in Stone, "Then you'll have no problem accepting my challenge."

"No problem," said Terry, getting up from the table and reaching into his pocket for his deck.

Stone wheeled around with his Millennium Rod in his hand and the Anhk tied to his neck. He had the rod raised to the air and the eye on it glowed. Suddenly, the lights died out and a black and purple cloud began to surround them and block out the kitchen they had been sitting in.

"A Game of Darkness…" Terry said aloud. _What kind of game will this be like? And what is the penalty?_

"I've designed this game just for the Guardian of Future History. To see if he can handle himself. And the pressures that get placed on him with that responsibility."

"Pressure?" asked Terry.

"Yes, you've got a whole world in your hands. That's intense pressure but you haven't gotten to the worst of things yet. And I'm not convinced that you can frankly take it. You're too young and naïve."

"What?" growled Terry through clenched teeth.

"You don't inspire confidence in me. I don't trust you enough to even let you work in my restaurant."

"So what?"

"So this is the deal, I'll wager both of my items in this duel. You win, you take them both and these two Puzzle Card things. But if I win, I want your Millennium Puzzle."

"What!" shouted Terry.

"There isn't anything that says that only you can be Guardian of Future History. Only that the owner of the Millennium Puzzle has that responsibility. If you can't handle it, turn it over to someone that can. Someone serious. Then you can go home and play games with your friends and stuff."

"Stop joking with me and listen carefully," said Terry, "Get it through that deep-fried head of yours that I take this extremely seriously. And I don't or ever will tolerate someone belittling my heart, my drive, my compulsion."

"I just did, so what will you do now?" asked Stone.

Terry slid his Duel Disk into position and slapped his deck into its holder. 4000 Life Points blinked to life on his LP counter and he smoothly took five cards from the top of his deck and fanned them into his hand.

"I'm going to teach you what it means to question my heart! Bring on the noise! Duel!"

"Duel!" called back Stone and drew his starting five cards as well.

"And ill start," said Terry, "Draw! Ill summon my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200 in defense mode."

Terry's monster materialized to the field, down to one knee on a virtual version of its own monster card.

"And ill set 1 reverse card and end my turn there." said Terry. A face down card appeared just to his right.

"My turn. Draw." said Stone calmly. "But before I move further, I want to explain something to you."

"Hmm?" wondered Terry aloud.

"This game, this Game of Darkness is specially prepared for you. Pressure is its key. Pressure causes problems, creates anxiety, forces mistakes. Can you operate under pressure?" he asked.

"Not a problem." smirked Terry, "I've been in tough duels and played against very strong opponents."

"The Game of Darkness isn't just some special type of duel…" said Stone, picking up two cards out of his hand, "I'll set two reverse cards." Two cards appeared to either side of Stone. "And ill summon this monster. Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) in defense mode."

_Defense mode? Obnoxious Celtic Guardian can only be destroyed by a monster with an attack of 1900 or less and he chose to set it in defense? And with 2 reverse cards with it?_

"That ends my turn." said Stone.

"My tur-!" Terry tried to say but didn't finish. He could feel a sharp pain that skittered around the left side of his temple. The skittering disappeared as quick as he sensed it and it was replaced with a dull throbbing. Like a headache just to the left side of his head.

"Problems Terry?" asked Stone.

Terry looked at him and could feel that headache still throbbing around in his head, but even through that he looked at him and started chuckling.

"This is a joke…your idea of testing how I work under pressure is to administer annoying headaches?" laughed Terry.

"You could learn some humility as well." Stone just said. "Make your move."

"Draw!" called out Terry, "I'll show you a little pressure, Stone. I'll summon Gear Fried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in attack mode and change Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to attack position as well. Celtic Guardian (1400/1200), attack his Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300!

Celtic Guardian, who was on one knee but now standing fully, unsheathed its sword and made a leap into the air, its sword raised above its head and set to fully slice Z-Metal Tank in half.

"Reverse Card Open!" called out Stone, his arm sweeping to the reverse card to his left side.

_A trap?_ Thought Terry.

"The Reliable Guardian!"

A warrior dressed in a pretty simple almost loincloth looking garb came out of the now upturned Spell Card. A wide sword was sheathed at its side but it had a great big shield that blocked his whole body. And he pointed it upwards at Terry's Obnoxious Celtic Guardian from the top of Stone's Z-Metal Tank. Celtic Guardian's sword came down with a hard metallic clang but the shield held on.

"Reliable Guardian allows me to increase the defense points of a monster by 700 points for one turn." said Stone.

"Z-Metal Tank's original defense points were 1300…" started Terry.

"And from my card's effect, it goes to 2000."

Terry and Stone watched as the reliable Guardian, who still had its shield raised defending the Z-Metal Tank, push off against Celtic Guardian's sword and send him back to Terry's side of the field. Then it disappeared.

"In that attack, you take 600 points of damage. But at that moment…" Stone said, his arm now sweeping toward his reverse card to his right.

"Another trap?" exhaled Terry.

"Reverse Card, Open! Cross Counter!"

A Trap Card turned itself upward from Stone's field and it just glowed for a brief moment before it faded away. _What effect does it have?_ wondered Terry. On an impulse, he looked at his field for any changes and saw none. But he did notice something. His Life Points were now at 2800! He lost 1200 Life Points!

"What the hell?" Terry said, looking at his LP Counter.

"Cross Counter's effect lets me double the amount of damage you take from attacking one of my defense position monsters in the turn that it's activated. Not only that, but it has another effect. That monster that attacked is destroyed at the end of the battle!"

"You…" growled Terry.

TERRY: 2800

STONE: 4000

"Z-Metal Tank! Cross Counter! Metal Tank Charge!" called out Stone, pointing to Terry's Celtic Guardian. The horizontal image of the Z-Metal Tank that it had been 'standing' on disappeared as it geared up and its treads started to move and carry it quickly toward Terry's monster. Celtic Guardian drew its sword again and tried to brace itself for the charge but it was pointless. The sword offered no protection as the tank slammed into him and literally pulverized him.

Terry watched the tank roll back noisily to Stone's field and then become quiet. He had just been played for a fool.

"So what's your move now kid?" quipped Stone.

"Trap Card, Open! Ultimate Offering!" called out Terry, pointing down toward his own card that was now vertical and face up on the field. "This Continuous Trap Card lets me have an extra summon or set at the cost of 500 Life Points per monster or per set."

"Heh, you're gonna dwindle away your Life." murmured Stone.

Terry stopped dead. Much as he didn't like him, he made a good point. By using the effect he would drop himself down to 2300 Life Points in the course of one turn. And that's too low, he needed to conserve some Life for the long run.

But even as he thought about whether to use it or not, that pain returned to his head, but this time it was much fiercer. Like a kick to the side of his head now instead of a little love tap like last time. He actually grunted out loud from the surprise of it and the force. And this time, it didn't seem like it was going to go away.

"What did you do to me, Stone!"

"I did nothing," he said, his arms crossed. "This is the nature of the Game of Darkness. Pressure is its key, didn't I say that? You're feeling pressure, or you're being pressured. I made this game so that pressure would become a physical presensce. And it becomes painful and tormenting. Eventually you will make mistakes, make unnecessary strategies and destroy yourself in this duel."

Terry had a hand resting against his head where that pain was centering. He had to rethink the way he looked at this guy. He definitely knew what he was doing and was all business here. But so was he. The pain wasn't that bad and he still felt like he wasn't losing control like Stone said he would.

"Ill end my turn." said Terry.

Stone, on the inside, smiled to himself. _Looks like it's started some already. He could have attacked with his Gear Freed and destroyed my monster. Now I'll show him something to really rattle him._

"Draw!" said Stone.

* * *

Knowledge and his new running mate Janet Rush were walking out of a Burger King not too far from the main square where Knowledge had beaten her for 2 Puzzle Cards. Now he was in search of a new challenger to get some more Puzzle Cards and get into the finals.

"Uh, Catravious?" asked Janet.

Knowledge, who was walking along with her, bristled at the use of his real name. He much preferred Knowledge to Catravious. "Yeah?"

"Just who do you plan on challenging next?" she asked.

Knowledge shrugged his shoulders.

"That means…" she lead on.

"Just whoever looks like they will be a challenge, not a pushover. It's no fun to play against someone dominant or someone not even to your caliber."

"Then I think I have an idea of where you might find some good challenges."

"Really?" asked Knowledge, getting excited, "Where?"

Janet walked on, right toward a bus station just a block from where they were and lead him silently onto the bus. Knowledge didn't catch where it was going to. The bus itself was fairly crowded, a few duelists on there as well. Janet took a seat pretty near the back and Knowledge sat down next to her.

"We're heading for The Flats, I know of a place." said Janet as the bus pulled away from the stop and rolled away.

* * *

Stone took a look at his current hand Negate Attack, X-Head Cannon (1800/1500), Fake Trap and his newly drawn card Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600).

_I've got all my pieces and an open shot too. Let's see what he's made of..._

Stone picked up a card from his hand. "I'll summon this monster. Y-Dragon Head! (1500/1600)"

Terry knew what was going to come next. _He will get the last part of the XYZ puzzle to the field next. The X-Head Cannon. But ill stop him before he gets the chance._

What happened next surprised Terry. No sooner had he seen the Y-Dragon Head summoned on the field, X-Head Cannon appeared next to it. All three of the original 'Union' Monsters on the field and it only spelled trouble.

"How did you summon two monsters in one turn?" demanded Terry.

Stone said nothing but show Terry his Duel Disk. He saw the three monsters on his field and an explanation. Stone's Life Points had dropped to 3500.

"Ultimate Offering's effect isn't limited to you. I can use that effect as well. And I use it to buy an extra summon for my X-Head Cannon."

TERRY: 2800

STONE: 3500

"Now, X, Y, Z, Combine!" called out Stone.

Terry and Stone watched as all three of Stone's monsters began to exude some yellow lightning like energy. Y-Dragon Head's wings folded away and into its own body as it hovered over the tank. X-Head Cannon was hovering over the top of both of them. Then X and Y just dropped and joined with Z simultaneously.

"XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!" Stone exclaimed with some pride in his voice. "And now, XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600), attack his Iron Knight 1800/1600!"

XYZ Dragon Cannon didn't make any kind of flashy moves. On Stone's command, it simply started to charge its many cannons. Terry's side of the field began to glow with a mix of yellow and blue light, the light of the energy powering up in XYZ's cannons.

"XYZ Hyper Cannon!"

Stone called the attack and it came instantly. Just like a wall of yellow and blue just rushing toward Terry. It overtook his Gear Freed easily and kept on coming, closer to him. Terry crossed his arms in front of his head and braced for the impact. It came improbably stronger than he would have guessed. The impact, which was like a dozen sledgehammers beating onto his forearms at the exact same time, only lasted a second. It was quickly replaced by a large explosion. The force of that explosion took him very clear off his feet and he landed hard on his back. Very hard, and his head snapped back toward the ground too and it hit against the ground as well. The headache that was there only got stronger from that shock and his hands grabbed the back of his head.

TERRY: 1800

STONE: 3500

"Now, get up! This duel isn't going to stop!" said Stone.

_The PAIN! It hurts!_ Terry thought to himself. _This Game of Darkness is gonna make me lose my mind!_ He looked up over his chest at Stone who was waiting for him to get up. _If I don't get killed by him first..._

Terry rolled over to his side and could 'hear' more badgering by Stone but it wasn't all registering. Like he couldn't comprehend what he was saying at that moment. He took his time, his head was rolling with throbbing. When he got up to one knee he saw the cards he had dropped from his hand to protect himself. He picked them up and gingerly, very gingerly got back up to his feet. His head didn't hurt as much from this position but his balance was off.

"Come on Terry! Teach me what it means to make fun of your heart! Show me!"

Terry locked eyes with Stone and he could see in Stone's eyes that he wasn't going to let up until he gave him something to worry about. He looked in his hand, which had nothing that he could really use, Reload, Kaiser Sea Horse 1750/1650, Poison of the Old Man and Snatch Steal. Snatch Steal would grant him control of XYZ Dragon Cannon but Stone could chain to the activation of that Spell Card and destroy it. The next card would be critical.

"My turn!" he said, fingers on his deck.

_Come on, give me something to fight back with..._

"Draw!" he said, and looked down on his drawn card.

And he smiled.

"Ill summon my Kaiser Sea Horse (1750/1650) in defense mode. Kaiser Sea Horse has an effect where if its sacrificed in a sacrifice summon with a Light-Type monster, it can count as two sacrifices." He said as he held another card in his hand.

"What are you going on about?" asked Stone.

"I wont keep you waiting. I will use the effect of Ultimate Offering," he said and Stone indeed watched as Terry's Life Points dropped from 1800 to 1300. "Which will let me have an extra summon this turn. And I choose to summon this monster!"

TERRY: 1300

STONE: 3500

When Terry slapped that monster onto his Duel Disk, he jumped when some of his own yellow lightning started coming out of his card and Duel Disk. Kaiser Sea Horse, which was already on the field, glowed white and then separated into two white dots that just took off skyward. Both duelists looked up to see the darkness of their Game of Darkness part for what looked like a normal nighttime skyline but they both watched as a certain group of stars started glowing too. Stone immediately knew what constellation that was, the one that represented Scorpio of the Zodiac. The glow cast down on a round section on Terry's field. Then a monster started materializing into view in the light.

It was the type of dragon that was had small legs and arms and was mostly all body. A lot like a Thunder Dragon or for better recognition, Osiris. But this monster was deep purple opposed to red like God. It had a tan looking underbelly but that dark purple covered its backsides. Where the underbelly and top of the monster met, it was a jagged white and purple pattern that led up from the tail to the head. Along the body though were spots of white that apparently signified stars. The head was slender and angular like a triangle. The mouth pointed slightly upwards like a Scorpion tail would and rows of small teeth lined its jaws. The eyes were fair sized and thin, great blue eyes with white around the pupils with great puffy eyebrows. There was a horn that pointed from the back of its head backwards toward the rest of its body and a little hood of skin that reached from its head back toward that horn. From somewhere under that hood, what looked like hair flowed down the back of its head, dominantly grey with some touches of purple in it.

"Take a look Stone, my Deck's greatest weapon, Scorpio Dragon! (2950/2500)"

And for the first time since he had met the man, Terry thought Stone looked nervous.

"Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500), attack his XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)! Twilight Burst Stream!"

The monster now revealed to be Terry's own Scorpio Dragon, one of the promotional X Cards, let out a shrill roar then closed its mouth. Its spots on its back started to glow and cast a little light over Terry's field. Then the light began to fade and when Scorpio Dragon opened its mouth again, a blue stream shot out of its mouth. It dropped toward the ground and traveled close to the ground, tearing up the ground as it passed before it started to climb toward Stone's XYZ Dragon Cannon.

"Reverse Card, Open!" Terry heard Stone call out over the noise from the attack. He watched the beam hit home and exploded in an honestly beautiful explosion of white lights that illuminated the area like little candles before burning out. Unfortunately when the dust cleared, XYZ Dragon Cannon was still on the field, completely intact.

"Heh heh, just so you know, I activated this Trap Card." he said, jerking his thumb to a card Terry saw almost hiding behind XYZ Dragon Cannon.

"Grrr….Negate Attack…" said Terry.

"Exactly right," laughed Stone, "Negate Attack lets me negate the attack of your monsters and at the same time, ends your Battle Phase."

"Tch…" exclaimed Terry. _Now I'm open. XYZ Dragon Cannon's special effect can kill my Scorpio Dragon before I even get to use it again._

"My turn isn't over yet. Ill set two reverse cards and end my turn."

Stone eyed Terry down. _Lucky on my part. The kid isn't bad at all, ill have to play it smart. This Game of Darkness preys on the mind. Worry, doubt, indecision all play parts in creating that pressure that preys on him. I have to keep him in suspense..._

"My turn! Draw!" said Stone. "From my hand, ill play this Spell Card. Coins from Heaven."

"That card…" started Terry, his mouth falling open. He recognized it as another of those X Cards, extremely rare and pretty powerful.

"This card allows both players to draw cards until they have 6 cards in their hands."

Terry said nothing and drew 5 more cards to add to his hand. Stone drew 5 more cards and from Terry's point of view, looking over Stone's body language, he seems to have something good.

"Knowledge is a very good thing right Terry? So how about I give some to you."

Terry raised an eyebrow about that but stopped, the pressure still hadn't passed. He watched Stone take two cards out of his hand and just hold them at about his eye level. Then he turned them toward Terry. He was showing him cards!

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 3:30 PM

Knowledge and Janet stepped off the bus at its last stop, the place she had taken Knowledge to find an opponent. The Flats. The Flats was an interesting place. It was a little community of its own in the Downtown area. A river split between the area but on both sides of the river banks, business thrived with all kinds of party clubs, stores and restaurants. There were even boat 'taxi's' that carried people across to either side of the Flats. But Knowledge had known this place as more for parties, not for duels. He saw Janet walking down the street and hurried to catch up.

"Janet, where are we going?" asked Knowledge.

"To go see a friend of mine, she runs a clan that likes to hang out down here lately. Her name is Natasha. Natasha Chapel"

"Natasha Chapel…doesn't ring any bells…" said Knowledge, scratching his head.

"She's really good, she been a regular attendant to the state championships and has a few national appearances."

"Still not ringing…"

Janet sighed. "Don't bother, anyway we're here." she said.

Knowledge saw they had stopped outside of a stretch of a strip mall that they had been walking along. But the one that they had stopped outside of was empty. It was a vacant store lot but he could easily see through the glass where there were probably about eight duelists, Duel Disks as well, that were walking around and talking and laughing. Looked like a fairly mixed age group, mostly boys but there were some girls there too.

Janet knocked on the glass door and all their eyes turned toward the door. Knowledge looked nervous but Janet was all smiles. Two of the three girls there rushed to open the door and mobbed Janet in the street. Knowledge sidestepped away from the girl hug and just looked inside the window at the guys that were watching too. Knowledge and the other guys just shrugged their shoulders. Guy code for 'that's how those girls are…'

Janet however, wasn't nearly as giddy as her two new friends. She smiled and laughed but wasn't talking much. When the giggle fit died down, the two new girls, both blondes but one looked dyed, turned their attention to Knowledge.

"Jan, whos he?" asked one of them, the natural blonde.

"That's Catravious." said Janet.

Knowledge leaned against the glass window and just nodded his head toward the girls. _Play it cool, playa._

"Hmm…I guess he's too 'cool' to introduce himself right." said the other one, the bleached one.

"Looks that way, Mr. GQ." chimed in the natural.

"Ugh…" exhaled Knowledge. _What's my deal, can't I catch ONE break?_

"So whats up Janet?" asked the natural, turning back toward her.

"Well, I wanted to ask Natasha for a little favor on my friend's behalf." she said.

Both girls looked at Knowledge and then the bleached one said, "That stick in the mud? He looks like a complete washout."

"He's not bad, he beat me." said Janet.

"Really?" the two girls said together.

"What's up you guys?" called another female voice from inside the store. Knowledge turned and looked inside the window. He had to double-take at what he laid eyes on. A stunning blonde with her hair in curls that framed her face and brown eyes. The rest was just as stunning, tan capris with low top Reeboks or K-Swiss', he couldn't tell from where he was. That led up to a midriff shirt, white, with the word 'dreamy' across it. Knowledge's only problem was that she certainly looked at least 21 or 22.

"Hey, Natasha!" called out Janet.

_THAT'S the_ _Natasha! I'd thinks I'd remember someone that looked like that from state and nationals._

"Hey girl! Hasn't been that long, so what brings you back, Jan?" asked Natasha.

"I brought a friend that was looking for a challenge." she said, gesturing to Knowledge. Knowledge, this time, walked toward her from the window and offered his hand in a handshake but instead she gave him the once over. Checking him over to see if he was worth anything, like her time.

"Hi." said Knowledge, withdrawing his hand. From out of his eye, he saw the other two blondes just roll their eyes.

"Hi. What's your name?"

"Knowledge." he replied.

Natasha looked at him funny, then at Janet who just shrugged her shoulders and said his real name. The other two blondes started snickering to each other. Knowledge knew he and these two girls were not going to get along easily.

"He hates it when you call him that." someone called out.

All eyes turned down the street to a figure walking down the street toward them, hands in his pockets. He wore a blue vest and white jeans and a Duel Disk.

"Jamie!" called out Knowledge.

"What's up man?" said Jamie, embracing his friend in a hug.

"When did you get out of the hospital?" asked Knowledge.

"You were in the hospital?" asked Natasha.

"Yeah, Natasha. But I just got out today."

Knowledge looked at his friend and jacked a thumb at Natasha, "Wait a sec, you know her?"

"Yeah, she's a friend of mine." said Jamie.

Knowledge pushed him away from the group for a moment. Jamie looked down at him confused. Knowledge looked back at the rest of the girls then back to his friend.

"How come you never told me about THAT?" jacking his head in the direction of Natasha.

Jamie smiles and crossed his arms. "Come on man, you can't handle that. You're just jailbait to her."

"Well, Catravious and Jamie." said Natasha, "Welcome. And meet my clan, Clan Prime." and she led Janet, Knowledge, Jamie and her two blonde friends inside.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 4:00PM

Terry stood looking carefully at two cards Stone had just shown him for absolutely no reason. They were both Trap Cards, Begone, Knave and Draining Shield.

"You know the effects of both of these Trap Cards right, Terry?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Then watch." Stone said. He took the rest of his hand and slipped them into a pocket on the breast of his chef coat. The two cards, which he had turned so Terry was seeing the backs of them, were shuffled and he slid them into his Duel Disk to set them on the field. Terry was dumbstruck.

"So you know what I have on the field right? But I think ill just play one more reverse card to make it a bit more interesting. That ends my turn."

"What!" yelped Terry. _Stone had a monster that could destroy any card on the field by discarding one from his hand, including his stronger Scorpio Dragon and he didn't use the effect? What kind of –_

"Ugghhh…." groaned Terry. It was happening again, the rule of this Game of Darkness. And then it made sense to him, Stone was trying to push him into a corner. But by now, the pain wasn't just in his head anymore. His stomach was starting to feel funny. Like the classic butterflies in your stomach nervousness except with a headache beyond measure backing it up.

Stone looked on, knowing full well what was going on in Terry's head. "You cant take the pressure? Look at yourself. So full of bragging and confidence before we began about how you were going to teach me something. You still haven't shown me anything except that you're just beginning to learn more than just how to play this game."

"Beginning?" asked Terry.

"Right, someone might be a great strategist, a masterful deck maker, a keen tactician, but it's all useless if you can't handle the mental aspects of this game. Trap pressure, knowledge of opponent's cards and possible moves, even trash-talking. You can't take it. And to top it off, there's a simple way to overcome this."

Terry was still hearing what Stone was saying but he had kept his eyes on those set cards of his and continued to feel terrible.

"Show me you're not as naïve as you're showing me, Terry. Now make your move."

Terry silently drew his next card thinking about what Stone had said. _'a simple way to overcome this?' How can he find some simple way to beat this pressure?_

He looked over his hand quickly and saw nothing that could help his current situation. But he knew his deck had a card that would help out some.

"Reverse Card, Open! Reload!" said Terry.

"Reload?" asked Stone.

"Yes, Reload allows me to take my current hand and shuffle it back into my deck…" and as he said it, Terry removed his deck, placed the cards from his hand on top and started to shuffle. "And then redraw the same amount of cards that I put back. So I can draw seven cards." Terry finished shuffling his deck and placed it back into its holder. He drew his seven cards and fanned them in his hand. He took one out of his hand.

"Ill summon Breaker the Magical Warrior 1600/1000 in defense mode."

Stone saw what Terry was up to.

"Breaker's special effect – when it is summoned normally, it has one Magic Counter equipped to it. While that counter is equipped, the attack of Breaker goes up 300 points. But by removing that counter, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field."

Terry saw his kneeling Breaker's sword start glowing and he stood up from his kneeling position. He took his sword in his hand like a spear and then let it fly toward one of Stone set cards.

_Draining Shield, Begone, Knave and an unknown set card. Draining Shield will negate the attack of one of my attacking monster and add its attack strength to Stone's Life Points. Begone, Knave will return any monster that inflicts Battle Damage to an opponent's Life Points back to their player's hands. And one card that I don't know._

Terry saw the sword go and impale the left most set card on Stone's field. The card stood up and Terry saw his Breaker had hit Draining Shield. The card exploded into polygons and the sword zipped back to Breaker's hand.

"By removing that Magic Counter, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on your field. But that also decreases the attack power of Breaker by 300 points. It's attack power is now at 1600. But your Draining Shield is gone."

"And?" asked Stone.

Terry hung his head, "That ends my turn."

"My move! Draw!" said Stone.

"You still haven't learned…So ill activate the effect of XYZ Dragon Cannon. Ill discard 1 card from my hand to destroy 1 card on your field."

Terry looked over his own field. He had his Ultimate Offering Trap Card on the field, Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000), and his Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500).

"XYZ Dragon Cannon, destroy his Scorpio Dragon, and then attack his Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

XYZ Dragon Cannon fired a flurry of rapid fire shots from its cannons that just started dropping like explosive rain all around Terry's field. The ground and the air was totally lit up from the explosions and the racket from firing. Breaker didn't stand a chance. But Terry had to watch his Scorpio Dragon, which he had finally gotten a chance to see in a duel, destroyed. It tried to duck and dodge a few shots but they started raining in on its whole body and it just let out one final roar before dropping to the ground in an explosion of polygons.

TERRY: 100

STONE: 3500

Terry watched it happen and he looked at his favorite monster got crushed. He didn't get a chance to draw it dueling Scale and Stone destroyed it while mocking him.

"I'll set one card and end my turn." said Stone.

"Stone, I wont forgive you for this." growled Terry.

"Shut up, I don't need your forgiveness. I need you to wise up and become something a lot better than what you're showing me."

"Better!" he yelled. He felt some heat rising to his cheeks and more insistent headaches drumming his head but he ignored them.

"Im tired of your riddles!" he screamed. Just then, his Millennium Puzzle started to glow and jump around his neck. Terry more felt than saw the dark energy that was starting to gather around him, like the greater his anger went, the more intense that energy that formed around him. A brief flash from the past on how he had said manipulating dark energies was a matter of imagination and he thrust out his hand, imagining just pure energy would knock him down. Just as Terry thrust out his hand, ready to let loose something to hurt Stone, he hesitated. He debated if he really wanted to do what he was about to do. But in that one second Terry hesitated, Stone stretched out his hand as well and he focused a shot of his own and Terry just fell back onto his butt, stunned by what had just happened. Frustration overtook his thoughts and he scuffled back to his feet and tried to stand up but Stone knocked him down again. He got up again, but Stone didn't knock him down this time.

"Look at the great Guardian of Future History. So consumed with anger and frustration. Use your head! Look at you!" said Stone.

Terry didn't listen. His Millennium Puzzle started bouncing around again and he felt it jump up toward his face. It was right then he caught his reflection in the side of the puzzle. The most noticeable change was that Eye of Annubis that had appeared on his forehead. But he could not notice his eyes. Bloodshot and veiny. Almost evil-looking. He didn't look anything like the Terry Hairston he knew. He wasn't himself.

_Stone was right all along. And I couldn't see it. He's been stringing me along like this to teach me. All right, lets figure this out..._

Terry let his arms fall to his sides and he looked at his surroundings. _What was it that Stone said about this? Pressure is its key. Pressure... Pressure... Well if it's happening to me, it has to be happening to him too. But through this whole duel, he hasn't said anything about problems, headaches or anything like that. I know that this thing affects us both, how does he..._ Then Terry's eyes lit up like stars. _That's it!_

And as soon as he figured it out, his whole body felt more relaxed, more calm, more focused. He had found his 'focus in the chaos'. And he had to smile for feeling like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

"What's got you so cheery?" asked Stone, a small smile on his knowing face.

"It's funny how you can laugh at yourself for the stupid mistakes you make. I had the answer to this pressure issue right in front of my face. The answer, the key, on how to beat pressure is that you can't. Pressure is unavoidable. It's how you work around that pressure or with that pressure to complete what you set out to do. I realized that from seeing you duel this whole time. You never lost focus, never lost your cool. That's the real key to it."

Stone just nodded with a proud smile on his face, "So you do have some intelligence in there. But face your reality too. XYZ Dragon Cannon has wiped your monsters out and nearly your Life Points."

Terry just chuckled, "That's fine. Because I know now that if I kept letting those pressures control me, I would have lost this duel from losing my focus. Let's see how I can do now. My turn! Draw!"

* * *

_Whoo, that was a long chapter. And like i said, my chef aint no pushover! _

_I wanted to point something out at this point in the story. Any of you reading this might be familiar with online dueling with programs like YGO Vitrual Desktop. They have clans in them but as far as i've seen, they don't translate to real life. So i thought i'd like to make one in real life with some of my characters. Initially, i wanted to broaden it more but for the sake of keeping my story straight, I left it pretty minimal. Though I think i will do something with it down the line._

_And yes, there's another+20 year old character in my story playing the game. Meh, what canI say.But she and Jamie seem to know each other?Hmm..._

_Wellone more chapter in the books. 14down, who knows how many more togo and my Battle City is just about halfway done. It'll be interesting to read next chapter, we get to this story's first Tag-Team Duel. I'lltell you Knowledge and Jamie will be in it challenging two people out of Clan Prime but just who? Natasha? Janet? Someone else? And with Terry, only having 100 Life Points, how can he turn the tide of the game? Check in soon for my next chapter, simply titled Double Duel._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	15. Double Duel!

_Disclaimer: I don't own it. No witty remarks. I just don't. _

_Well, the damned site ate my summaries for the beginning and end of this chapter and im not in a mood to re-rewrite them so lets get on with the show!_

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 15: Double Duel!

TOURNAMENT TIME 4:15 PM

Terry had finally figured out the key to the Game of Darkness. And as soon as he began to just focus in on what he wanted to do, things became a lot easier. He still felt the nervousness and the headaches and butterflies, but he no longer let them control him. He had a clear target, to defeat Stone. And a clear way to do it, with Scorpio Dragon.

But his first concern had to be with somehow destroying Stone's XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600). There was also two reverse cards on Stone's field but Terry didn't regard them as a threat yet. Terry looked through his options in his hand and realized nothing in his hand could beat Stone's XYZ Dragon Cannon and he only had 1 monster to boot. But then he got an idea.

"I'll set three reverse cards." said Terry and three cards appeared in a row almost directly in front of his feet, making a total of four with the one previously there. "Then ill summon Gear Fried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in defense mode and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" called Stone. He looked at Terry's field carefully. He had to regard Terry as a pretty much totally new opponent. He basically was.

"From my hand, ill play this Spell Card. Equip Spell Card! Fairy Meteor Crush!" Stone said, sliding the card into his Duel Disk.

"I'll set one more reverse card. Now, XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600), attack his Gear Freed (1800/1600)" called out Scale.

Terry waited and waited. His plan was pretty foolish because he had an idea on how to get rid of XYZ Dragon Cannon but it would need Stone's help. And the fact that he would lose almost all his Life Points. But it was all he had, and smirked to himself on the inside. Then when XYZ Dragon Cannon's attack was launched and coming for his monster…

"2 Reverse Cards, Open!" called Terry.

"What!"

"Poison of the Old Man! Then Bait Doll!"

"What in the -?"

Speaking quickly Terry explained Poison of the Old Man's effect. "When I activate this card, I have a choice of what effect to use. I can either inflict 800 points of damage to your Life Points or increase mine by 1200 points. I'll increase my Life!"

TERRY: 1300

STONE: 3500

Terry then explained Bait Doll's effect of forcing the activation of one face down card on his opponent's field. If that card is a Trap Card and the timing is not correct it is destroyed. But the card that Terry chose…

"The card you chose was…" said Stone as they both watched one out of his three of his face down cards start turning face up.

"YES! Begone, Knave!" yelled Terry.

"Oh no!" yelped Stone.

"Oh yes! Bait Doll forces you to activate Begone, Knave! And because your monster will inflict Battle Damage to me, XYZ Dragon Cannon MUST go back to your hand! And that means back to your Fusion Deck!"

XYZ Dragon Cannon's attack hit head on with Gear Freed and destroyed him easily. Terry's Life Points took a sharp drop back down to just 100. But he was still psyched.

TERRY: 100

STONE: 3500

"Say goodbye to XYZ Dragon Cannon!"

"Not yet! XYZ Dragon Cannon, destroy our own Trap Card!" Stone said pointing to the card that had just almost betrayed him. He raised his hand to discard his last hand card to the graveyard to use that ability.

"I don't think so! Reverse Card, Open! Lightforce Sword!" Terry said, and pointed straight at that last card of Stone's. Stone couldn't react fast enough and just saw his card sitting on the ground skewered by a simple looking sword that had flown out of the Spell Card appearing on Terry's field.

"Lightforce Sword lets me seal one of you cards in your hand out of play for three turns. And since you now have no cards from your hand to discard…"

Stone's Begone, Knave! Trap Card glowed and his own XYZ Dragon Cannon started to as well, both an off white color. Then simply, the monster's silhouette, an all white one, changed to the size of a dot and that dot just hovered and floated up to the XYZ Dragon Cannon card that Stone was holding in his hand. And when Terry saw the look on his face, he found even more respect for the man. Even though he had lost his main monster and been outwitted, he still maintained his focus and cool.

"Excellent play." said Stone. "I'll end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" called out Terry, hoping for a monster. He looked over quickly at his card, Pot of Greed.

"From my hand, ill play this Spell Card, Pot of Greed!" said Terry, showing Stone his card. He nodded and Terry drew 2 more cards.

Stone watched Terry look through his hand. The kid only had one card on the field and no monster to protect him. But he could see in his eyes that he had a lot more optimism about this duel now. Which was nice to see but he didn't just enter this duel to lose, he wanted to win too. And by looking at Terry, he didn't pick up on anything that made him want to think that Terry had something up his sleeve to win this duel.

"I'll set one reverse card and one reverse monster. But ill play this Spell Card from my hand."

Stone watched as Terry didn't say the card's name and just slipped it into his Duel Disk. That right there just had a bad ring to it. And on que, a slight twinge made its way into his knees. He passed it over and saw the card appear on Terry's field, Harpy's Feather Duster.

"Tch…" growled Stone.

"And all of your Spell and Trap Cards are gone!" Terry said pointing to his set cards. All at the same time, they exploded in a flash of polygons and swept back past Stone who covered himself slightly to shield himself. Now his field was naked.

"That ends my turn." said Terry.

Now it was Stone's turn to be a little confused. He set his monster down before he played his Feather Duster. That made him want to believe that he had a monster that was hiding a Flip Effect. But he had almost no Life Points left. Maybe its just a monster to cover his Life Points. And there were two set cards on the field too. Which was it?

"My turn! Draw! I'll summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1000) in attack mode!"

Stone had decided it's not such a good idea to let him gain confidence at this point. Try to force him to be back on the edge.

"Attack now!" called out Stone. X-Head Cannon lowered its cannons and took aim at Terry's down monster. And as soon as the shot's fired and impacted on the card, Stone knew something was wrong. The two shots from X-Head Cannon just sat on top of the face down card. Then the card started to flash and a huge shield just started to appear from the top of the face down card. Then a man holding that shield appeared and Stone immediately recognized Terry's formerly face down monster, Big Shield Guardna (100/2600).

"Big Shield Guardna, counter!" called out Terry. Big Shield Guardna grunted and shoved its shield forward and the two shots that were sitting there started to travel back at Stone's monster. It crossed its arms and waited. It took the attack straight on it's metallic forearms and for a few moments looked like it's defense would hold up but it couldn't. The attack broke through and impacted on its chest, knocking the machine back several feet and it had a little less shine to it than it did a minute ago.

"From attacking my monster with a higher defense than your attack power, you, Stone, take 800 points of damage."

TERRY: 100

STONE: 2700

Stone said nothing as his Life Point counter dropped from 3500 to 2700. "But since Big Shield Guardna was attacked, it must be changed from defense position to attack position at the end of the Battle Phase."

Stone and Terry saw Terry's monster get up from his kneeling position and stand, still with his shield facing forward.

"And at that moment is when I'll activate this card!" called out Terry, and swept his hand toward his right hand side to activate his card that had been sitting on the field for a few turns now.

"Reverse Card, Open! Soul Resurrection!"

"Soul Resurrection?"

"Yep, this Trap Card allows me to Special Summon one monster from my graveyard in face up defense mode. The only thing…is that it has to be a Normal Monster." Terry said with a sly smile.

"Oh no…" muttered Stone.

A sudden flash of light behind Terry surprised the both of them and Terry turned around to see a white circle of light on the ground behind him. Just as soon as his eyes got a little used to the light, something long shot out of the hole and Terry looked up to see the head of his Scorpio Dragon heading into the sky. As its tail cleared the hole, the rest of it's body started to hover and it coiled itself loosely behind Terry and its head floated above Terry's right shoulder. Terry looked at his dragon closely and it surprised him to see it look back at him with its eyes.

"You…" said Terry, starting to try to say something to it but of all things, the dragon nodded at Terry. Like it understood what Terry was trying to say? And he didn't even know what he was about to say! But that nod convinced him that this monster was something special and he wouldn't need to say anything to it. It understood him. Even if Terry didn't understand how.

Terry looked back to the field and got his attention back on the game. "I'll set one reverse card." called out Stone, "And end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" said Terry. He silently turned his Scorpio Dragon to attack mode while thinking. _Now the only thing on his field is his field is his X-Head Cannon and a reverse card. This is probably the best chance I'm going to get!_

"Scorpio Dragon 2950/2500, attack that X-Head Cannon 1800/1000! Twilight Burst Stream!"

Scorpio Dragon began to collect energy in its mouth again. The grey and purple hairs down its neck started wafting behind it and like a shot from a gun, it fired off a bluish stream at Stone's monster.

"Got you Terry!" yelled Stone. "Reverse Card, Open! Limiter Removal!"

Scorpio Dragon's attack seemed to lose a little speed as it crossed the field toward Stone's monster which was shaking violently. Screws started to fall out of it and it's metal parts started turning red in color. It's eyes which were blue to start with burned blue fiercely and a loud hissing noise was coming from the machine.

"Limiter Removal lets me double the attack power of one of my Machine-Type monsters on the field for one turn. X-Head Cannon's original attack power was 1800. Now it's been raised to 3600!"

"X-Head Cannon, counterattack!" called out Stone. The shot required no charging but it let loose an intense yellow beam that met head on with the blue beam of Scorpio Dragon. It looked like a stalemate for a moment, both beams not giving on each other. But both of them knew the outcome of an attack of 3600 against one of 2950.

"That makes the second time ill have destroyed that dragon of yours! And won this duel!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Huh?" said Stone dumbly.

"You won't have the luck of taking my monster down again. Let's end this! Reverse Card, Open! Compulsory Evacuation Device!"

"NO!" yelled Stone. But it was too late, he saw X-Head Cannon start to fizzle in and out of sight and then in a flash, it was gone, replaced by a blue beam attack that was heading toward him with his name on it.

"Compulsory Evacuation Device lets me return any one monster on the field to its owner's hand. Stone, there's no way out! Twilight Burst Stream!"

Scorpio Dragon's attack landed dead onto Stone and though Terry couldn't see the man through the attack, he could hear the loud yell through it. The attack didn't last much longer than a few longer than usual seconds but to Terry, it seemed more than enough to avenge his losing his monster beforehand. He could see that Stone had dropped to one knee and had an arm up over his head to try to shield himself. It didn't seem to do much to save himself. His arm shook a little and his eyes had lost some of their cool and collected look to them. He looked…rattled, the best word he could think of at the moment. But he stood up and dusted his jacket off and began walking toward Terry.

Terry didn't move, he just waited with his arms to his sides and wondering what was going to happen next. His Scorpio Dragon was still on the field looking at Stone too as he walked right in front of Terry. There was a moment of silence. They were surrounded by darkness and it made the silence unwelcome to Terry. He had let his eyes wander while he thought that and when he looked again at Stone, he noticed that he had his hand extended.

"A well-played duel, Terry." said Stone. Terry took Stone's hand and gave him a firm handshake. "Guess I shouldn't have doubted you were up to the challenge."

TERRY: 100

STONE: 0

"I should be thanking you, Stone. You taught me a lot in that one duel, including…"

Stone just saw that Terry was looking at him in the eyes. He didn't know what he was staring at him for. But something told him to look behind him and he did and smiled a thin smile. Both the Millennium Ankh and Rod were floating right above his shoulders, being controlled by Terry's power.

"Including how to pickpocket some nice things off you." Terry laughed.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 4:45 PM 

Inside the 'home' of Clan Prime, Jamie felt comfortable in this environment People were looking at the newcomers, namely him and Knowledge, but they were mainly going about their business. Dueling, chatting, joking around, just mainly having fun. Stuff Jamie was supposedly too old to do anymore but he didn't listen to popular opinion in this case.

He looked toward Natasha and thought she could feel the same way. She was his age and in his same situation. But when he looked around at what she had done with these duelists, he couldn't compare the two of them. Jamie himself wanted to relive his childhood. Natasha taught kids to live their childhood to the fullest.

Jamie looked toward Knowledge who was standing just a few steps ahead of him and wondered what he had been up to in the tournament. Or Natasha for that matter.

"So Knowledge, just how have you been doing in the tournament? Or are you still in it for that matter?"

Knowledge didn't turn around but just went into his pockets to remove three Puzzle Cards that he flashed to Jamie. He looked over his shoulder with a smirk on his face that said anything that needed to be said.

"Guess you have been pretty busy." Jamie said.

"So I guess that you only have one, huh?" said Knowledge.

Just as Jamie was about to one up Knowledge with his six Puzzle Cards, he saw Natasha lunge for Knowledge's hand that held his Puzzle Cards. Knowledge turned around and looked at Natasha with a questioning look. Natasha took one card out of the three and looked at it closely. Knowledge didn't understand what she was doing but he wasn't going to let her swipe one of his Puzzle Cards.

"Jan, don't tell me…" said Natasha.

Knowledge and Jamie looked at Janet and she had her head lowered and her short hair covered her eyes.

"What's the problem, Natasha?" asked Jamie.

"This Puzzle Card…it was mine." said Natasha.

"What!" said Knowledge. He looked from Natasha to Janet and back to Natasha."She…she stole it from you?"

Natasha looked at Knowledge with her brow wrinkled. "No, she didn't steal it. She beat me for it. And now, you have it."

Knowledge's eyes went wide. _Janet beat a duelist that always makes a way to the state and national championships?_

"Hold it, if she beat you, how are you still in the tournament?" asked Jamie. And now Natasha lowered her head.

"You're out. Aren't you?" Jamie said.

Within their group, everyone went silent. Jamie and Knowledge watched Janet and Natasha for any reactions and the two blondes, their names Penny, the natural blonde one and Ginger, the bleached one, looked on as well. Natasha reraised her head and began to speak.

"Sure, I lost. But winning isn't everything all the time. I lost to her but its perfectly fine. But what isn't fine is that I don't see how she lost to you, Catravious."

Knowledge bristled, "The same way you'd lose if I dueled against you."

Jamie, Janet, Penny and Ginger all looked at Knowledge wide eyed. But Natasha's eyes were much more narrowed.

"You need to watch how you talk to her." piped up Ginger.

"Knowledge, don't." said Jamie.

"Oh no, that's all right." said Natasha with a smile. "I don't take it as an insult."

Knowledge heard the whir and click of Natasha's Duel Disk going into place.

"I take it as a challenge. Show me how you beat Janet." she said.

"H-Hang on, I didn't mean it like that." said Knowledge, holding his hands out and a nervous smile on his face.

"Seems that's the way it's being taken, loudmouth." said Jamie, scratching his head and rolling his eyes.

"Natasha, here." said Penny. She handed something that she kept concealed from Jamie's eyes. Natasha apparently didn't like what she saw and took her away from the group around her. Natasha kept trying to push whatever Penny had in her hands back to her but Penny wouldn't have any of it. Natasha seemed to give up after a few more tries and Jamie was almost sure that Penny had just given Natasha a Puzzle Card. And sure enough, Natasha walked back toward them, with Penny still staying put in her spot, and flashed Knowledge the card.

"I cant accept this duel, I didn't – "

"He accepts." said Jamie.

"What?" said Knowledge, wheeling around to look at Jamie.

"I said, you accept."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do, but with one twist."

"Are you talking and thinking for me now!" exploded Knowledge.

"This should be a Tag Duel." Jamie said with a smile.

"Tag Duel?" asked Knowledge, Natasha, Ginger and Janet in unison.

"Sure, it will be more fun that way. And I've been dying to see what Knowledge can do. I'll do it in a duel with him."

Natasha seemed to turn it over in her mind but it didn't take long for her to accept the condition. Knowledge still didn't like it and pushed Jamie away from the group again for a moment. Jamie got in the first word.

"What's wrong with you, denying a duel?"

"I don't have to accept it, its that simple."

"Bull. So then give me a reason WHY you shouldn't accept this?"

Knowledge was silent.

"Come on, man. Tell me what's up."

"She's playing with someone else's Puzzle Cards. She has been eliminated from the tournament. And by a friend of mine too."

Jamie's skin bristled with that comment. He started walking back toward Natasha, pushing Knowledge along as he went.

"Its got more do with than just this tournament. Listen, it doesn't matter at all if she is using someone's cards. Matter of fact, you need to pay attention to that!" he said in a voice that everyone, including Natasha and Janet and Ginger could intentionally hear. "That girl gave away a chance in the tournament for Natasha to get the chance to duel you."

Knowledge started to open his mouth but was cut off.

"You should listen to him, Catravious." said an again acting shy Janet.

Jamie continued. "The worst thing you can do to a duelist that comes to you and asks for a chance to play against you is to deny them. They put their pride front and center for a chance to play. Win or lose, that person should feel a certain sense of pride from leaving that duel that YOU accepted and played with the best of your abilities."

Knowledge looked at Janet first and she just nodded her head, like she agreed with what Jamie had just said. Then he looked at Natasha who was standing with hands on her hips waiting.

"OK Jamie. I understand what you're saying." he said after a moment. He looked back at his friend and nodded his head. The both of them set their Duel Disk's to the ready.

"So if it's me and Jamie, who will you tag up with?" asked Knowledge to Natasha. Natasha looked at Janet for a brief moment then looked into her crowd of other duelists. Knowledge would have though Janet would have been the obvious choice.

"Someone that's seen you play would kinda ruin the surprises. No offence to you at all, Jan." Natasha said with a wink to Janet.

"Natasha-san, were you looking for a partner?" said a guy that had been standing and listening to the conversation. He used the 'san' expression, which was common for Japanese speakers, but he looked to be full-blooded American. Sandy dark brown hair, spiked, with brown eyes and a square jaw. Broad shoulders, which made him look older than first appearance. But he was oddly dressed. It looked like the typical style Japanese school uniform, red jacket buttoned to the collar and neatly pressed red pants. It didn't look right in one light but it worked in another light. A very odd combination to see, frankly, a stereotypical American in a stereotypical Japanese student garment.

"And you are?" said Jamie.

"My name is Michael Xavier. And you are?" he said extending a hand to Jamie.

"Jamie Cantou." he said, shaking it.

"And the young one?" offering his hand again.

"Knowledge." he said, shaking Xavier's hand.

"I should warn you, Natasha-san is a great duelist and im not bad myself. You won't have it easy."

"Feh," exhaled Jamie, "I know Natasha is good, but I don't know a thing about you."

"He's fairly right." said Natasha. "Out of all my 'students', Xavier here might be the most talented."

"So let's get this duel started then!" said Knowledge walking back out the door and into the street that crossed the front of Natasha's lot. Jamie, furthest from the lot, and Knowledge, closest to the lot, lined up on one side of the street. Natasha, closest to her lot, and Xavier, furthest from the lot, lined up directly across from their opponents.

"What are the rules?" asked Xavier as he placed his Duel Disk into position.

"OK." said Jamie, "There will be a shared Life Point total. Each team has a combined Life Point total of 4000. But each player has their own field, not a shared one. Players can use their monsters, Spell and Trap Cards to help or defend their teammate. Since it's a shared Life Point total, if it reaches zero, both players for that team lose. Agreed?"

"Agreed." said Knowledge, Natasha and Xavier in unison.

"And the betting of Puzzle Cards?"

"Hmm," said Jamie. "Well, since me and my boy are visitors, you can make the bet and we'll match it."

"I'll bet my one Puzzle Card." said Natasha, holding her one card between her fingers.

"And ill bet two Puzzle Cards." said Xavier, holding his just like his mentor.

Knowledge fished into his pocket and pulled out one Puzzle Card.

"I will match Natasha's bet."

"And I match Xavier's bet." said Jamie, holing two Puzzle Cards.

Knowledge glanced over at Jamie. _So he's been dueling and has a couple of Puzzle Cards. Wonder if that's everything he has..._

All four duelists set their decks into their Duel Disks.

"And since you let us choose the wager, you're going to choose the order?" asked Xavier.

"Sure." said Knowledge. _I know myself that Jamie is good and that Natasha is good too. But I don't know anything about Xavier or if I compare to him or Natasha..._

"Jamie will go first," said Knowledge, "Then Xavier, then me, then Natasha."

_Wonder why Knowledge put me in first position, I thought he'd want to be first..._ wondered Jamie.

"Everyone ready?" asked Xavier.

"Duel!" called out Jamie, Natasha, Knowledge and Xavier.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 5:15PM 

"So who is she?" asked Terry.

"What?" said Stone.

"The little girl." said Terry. "The one that I saw between the warehouses when we first met."

Terry and Jurvicious Stone were standing outside leaning against the wall to the restaurant that Stone worked at. Stone had been leaning and was pretty much chilled out but then he reached out with his arm and grabbed Terry's shirt by the collar and pulled him away from the wall and toward his side.

"What the hell!" yelled Terry.

"Don't even think about it. You're not going to hurt her." growled Stone.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's got nothing to do with your goals so forget about her." Stone let go of Terry's shirt and started looking forward at whatever.

"Man…" said Terry under his breath.

They were both silent for a minute, Terry just looking between Stone and outward at just more warehouses. The silence got Terry thinking about something.

"OK, Stone. Can you answer me a question?"

Stone didn't say anything but Terry continued anyway.

"Scale had told me something about the Millennium Items and the Millennium Puzzle that I don't understand. He told me that there were originally six Millennium Items and that the Puzzle was the seventh."

"Yeah, I know a little about that…" said Stone.

"I really want to know." added Terry.

"Well, kid. The way that I understand it is like this…"

Stone got up from the wall and stood straight up.

"Re'-Sha, or rather her soul after she died, wandered around creating a lot of problems for people in everyday life. Not little problems but serious ones. Deadly ones. The people decided that they had to do something to take care of the 'problem'. They assembled their finest priests and the best wizards they could find. They sealed her soul away but it didn't do any good. Because pretty soon, things started up again. People were getting seriously hurt, children were considered lost but more likely dead. The spell wasn't strong enough, her soul slipped the seal and she started the outer world as she pleased."

"Then it came down to the same group of people meeting again to make five more Millennium Items. The Millennium Rod, Scale, Ankh, Tauk, and Eye. Each one a piece of a much stronger spell to hold her within the Ring."

Terry shook his head. "That's not quite what Shadi told me."

"Who?"

"Shadi, you know of him right?"

Stone shook his head in disagreement.

"Well, he told me that her father got involved with abusing his ability of God Sight to save his daughter, which pretty much changed destiny and pissed off Annubis. When she died, Annubis condemned her soul to stay on Earth and that got some priests worried."

"All true, but there's something I think that this Shadi guy didn't tell you."

"Huh?"

"Where did the priests seal her the first time?"

"Huh? First time? In the Millennium Ring, right?"

Stone scoffed.

"It wasn't the Millennium Ring?"

"They sealed her away in the Realm of Monsters."

"The Realm of Monsters?" questioned Terry.

"Yeah, where these Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters live." Stone said, looking at a card.

"Wait a minute, the monsters…ARE REALLY REAL!"

"You already knew that." scolded Stone.

_Yeah, but...i was skeptical._ He thought to himself.

"Anyway, once Re'-Sha was sealed away, that should have been the end of it. But something happened in the time that she was sealed in The Realm of Monsters. All this anger and frustration became power for her. Soon after they re-sealed her into the Millennium Ring, that's what made that," Stone turned and pointed to the Millennium Puzzle, "practially the Egyptian's ultimate weapon."

"The ultimate weapon?" asked Terry. "What kind of weapon?"

"Sorry, I don't have all the answers. I just know that that Puzzle has something to do with an ultimate weapon that was used in ancient times."

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 5:20 

"I'll go first," said Jamie, "Draw!"

_In the first turn, no players can attack, so both Natasha and Xavier will be open._

Knowledge looked across at his partner. _Jamie never liked to follow the usual deck types and I never asked him what he made up for the tournament. Heh, its gotta be something good, he wont disappoint._

"Ill set one reverse card and summon Sealmaster Meisei (1100/900) in attack mode."

_Meisei isn't going to be enough Jamie. Try harder, try a lot harder._ Thought Natasha to herself.

"That ends my turn." said Jamie. He then looked toward Xavier, wondering what this new guy was made out of. He also saw that a few of the other duelists from inside had wandered outside to look at their duel, including that Janet girl.

"My turn! Draw!" said Xavier and quickly picked a card from his hand.

"I'll use this card from my hand, Field Spell, Fusion Gate!"

Knowledge and Jamie watched the extra slot on Xavier's Duel Disk open and he slid his Field Spell Card inside. He kept the slot open so they knew who had played that card, per Upperdeck rules, but Jamie saw the ground beneath them start changing. Instead of the concrete they were standing on, the ground morphed and started to turn into a black and green grid that extended from Jamie and Knowledge's feet to Natasha's and Xavier's. But in the middle of the field, there was a drop off, a 'hole' in the grid that the green grid actually stretched into.

"And ill use it's effect immediately. I'll send Nightmare Horse (500/400) and Spirit Reaper (300/200) into the gate!"

Jamie watched as not the actual monsters but their card forms appeared beneath Xavier's feet and traveled along the grid into the hole in the middle of the field. Jamie looked on and saw that Xavier had a wicked grin on his face. He didn't know what this fusion would make but Knowledge seemed to and he didn't like it, as he looked across at his partner. Xavier pointed toward the hole.

"Fusion Summon! Reaper of the Nightmare! (800/600)"

_A Fusion Monster with only 800 attack points?_ Thought Jamie to himself.

"Don't be fooled, Jamie." said Knowledge.

"Huh?"

"The one that calls himself 'Knowledge' is right." said Xavier sarcastically, with an emphasis on Knowledge, his arms crossed.

"Tch…" exhaled Knowledge.

"Reaper of the Nightmare can't be destroyed in battle by any monster and it can attack players directly even if there are monsters on your field. And if it does, a card is discarded from your hand if you take damage." said Knowledge.

"Hmm." hummed Jamie.

Xavier held another card out of his hand. "But that only counts as a Special Summon. I will summon The Unhappy Girl 400/300 in attack mode. One reverse card and that ends my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" called Knowledge. "And I'll set 2 reverse cards, and then summon Divine Dragon Ragnorak 1500/1000 in defense mode."

Knowledge saw his monster's card appear horizontally and his dragon, unusually pink in color but not at all cutely or anything, appear in a curled mass that sat on its card.

"Natasha." said Knowledge.

"Hm?" she sounded surprised.

Knowledge looked at Xavier and then at Janet, who was watching the duel too, and wondered about some similarities he saw between the two of them.

"So if you teach here, you teach everyone about Fusion?" Knowledge asked.

"It's the perfect beginners, intermediate and advanced deck type." responded Natasha. "But just because Janet and Xavier use it doesn't mean that I have to. My turn! Draw!"

Jamie and Knowledge looked at her with some interest. Jamie had played against Natasha before and knew that she was a strategist, not a power player like Knowledge or even Terry. Knowledge, however, didn't know her from anyone and wondered what she would toss out.

"Ill summon Atomic Firefly (100/200) in defense mode."

"Great…." mumbled Knowledge.

"When Atomic Firefly is attacked or when I attack with it and it's destroyed in battle, the person that destroyed it takes 1000 points of damage to their Life Points." said Natasha. Then she turned toward Jamie.

"But I know you Jamie, and I know Sealmaster Meisei has some cards that support that particular Spellcaster very well. From my hand, I'll play this Spell Card, Mystical Space Typhoon!"

Natasha's Spell Card appeared on the field and a whirlwind of air cross the field diagonally to Jamie's reverse card and sucked it into it's vortex of air. It then retreated, Jamie's set card in tow, back to Natasha's card, bringing it inside the card, and then it exploded.

"You just destroyed my Talisman of Trap Sealing Spell Card. It would have negated all Trap Cards so long as it and Meisei are on the field together."

"'Would have' is right." said Xavier.

Jamie scowled at Xavier. "I'll deal with you eventually big mouth."

Natasha seemed to ignore the two of them. "I'll set a reverse card and end my turn there."

"My turn! Draw!" called Jamie.

_Now the first turn has passed and players can attack now. I just have Sealmaster Meisei 1100/900 in defense mode. Xavier has his Reaper of the Nightmare 800/600 in attack mode and that Field Spell Fusion Gate. Knowledge has his Divine Dragon Ragnorak and 2 reverse cards. And Natasha just has Atomic Firefly 100/200 and a reverse card. _

"Time to do some damage! I'll sacrifice Sealmaster Meisei to summon Magical Marionette 2000/1000 in attack mode!"

Sealmaster Meisei, which was just sitting cross-legged in a meditation stance glowed white and disappeared back into its card. The card glowed white too for a brief moment and turned itself forward and vertical as Magical Marionette, a dark looking monster with strings connected to its fingers, came onto the field.

"Fond of that Spellcaster garbage?" asked Xavier.

"Magical Marionette (2000/1000), target Reaper of the Nightmare (800/600)."

Magical Marionette hummed something that sounded of the stuff of nightmares for a moment then it extended its arms and fingers. The strings on its fingers shot like spears heading for the almost ghostly looking Reaper of the Nightmare.

"No, no, no, Jamie. I won't allow that!" said Natasha, sweeping her hand over her card. "Set Card, Open! Shadow Spell!"

"What!" exclaimed Jamie.

Natasha's Trap Card flipped up and ropes of chain shot out from it heading for Magical Marionette. The chains bound his hand, his arms, they bound his arms to his chest. Then a counter that told players of number changes appeared next to Jamie's monster, showing that it's attack power had dropped to 1300 points.

"Shadow Spell will stop your attack, keep you from attacking again and reduce your monster's attack power by 700 points until my card is destroyed."

"All right, Natasha!" called Janet from the sidelines.

"Jamie?" wondered Knowledge aloud.

"It's all good; it's just the opening move, Knowledge."

"And it shows me what you are made of, my friend." quipped Xavier.

"Nevermind you, I'll set two reverse cards and end my turn there." said Jamie.

"My turn! Draw!" said Xavier and he looked over his opponent's fields. _Catravious and Jamie both have a single monster with 2 reverse cards each. And I can easily hit either with my monster. It's just a matter of who..._

"Come on, bring it here!" chanted out Knowledge. "What's wrong, why don't you want to attack me?"

"Attack mode, Des Kangaroo (1500/1700)!" called out Xavier but Knowledge was still talking and trying to get a rise out of Xavier. Jamie looked over at Knowledge like he was crazy. Matter of fact, he WAS acting crazy. Natasha looked on with the same look as Jamie, pure shock. But Xavier wasn't buying into it. He made his attack target choice right then.

"Reaper of the Nightmare (800/600), target Jamie for a direct attack!"

"Not that easy, big shot!" smiled Jamie.

"What now?"

"Set Card, Open! Ordeal of a Traveler!"

Jamie saw his card come up onto the field and the charging Reaper of the Nightmare which was gunning for him just stopped dead in its tracks.

"Ordeal of a Traveler, Jamie?" questioned Knowledge. Jamie just looked over briefly and gave him a slight nod, like everything was going to be cool. Knowledge just watched on, a disbeliever and critic of gamble cards.

"Now, this is all up to you, Xavier. Ordeal of a Traveler makes you have to select one card from my hand and correctly guess it as a Spell, Trap or Monster Card. If you guess right, of course I will be attacked. But if you guess wrong, Reaper of the Nightmare goes back to the Fusion Deck and away from the field."

Xavier bit his lip, out of all the cards that could have been set, that one was probably one he didn't expect to stop him. He looked at Jamie's hand which had only 2 cards.

"Alright, I'll leave the choice of the card up to you." said Xavier.

Jamie took both of his cards in his hands and looked at one then at the other. He took the arm that held one card and his Duel Disk and laid it at his side. The other card he held up toward Xavier with the face facing him. Xavier looked at Jamie, trying to see something in him. But he was looking straight back at him. So he started thinking about what it might be and made a quick decision.

"Monster." Xavier said pointing to that card.

Jamie moved the card so that it was sitting between his middle and pointer fingers and turned the card toward Xavier.

"Spell." he said, showing Xavier his Pot of Greed Spell Card. "And this attack is negated."

The once frozen Reaper of the Nightmare started moving again but it moved and went right past Jamie and didn't inflict any damage to him.

"I still have a monster to attack with though. Des Kangaroo (1500/1700) attack his Magical Marionette (1300/1000)!"

Jamie's eyes widened, he couldn't use his other set card to defend his monster.

"Reverse Spell, Open! Enemy Controller!"

Jamie heard it and looked toward Knowledge who just activated his card.

"Tag Duel rules say that I can use my monster to defend my partner, AND my reverse cards too."

Jamie gave him a thumbs up and Knowledge turned his attention to Xavier. "Enemy Controller lets me take your monster and switch it to defense mode before you can attack. Your attack is negated and my partner's monster is still there after two tries by you!"

"All that bragging and I'm just clearing out all your pesky Spell and Trap Cards for later. The duel just started and I'm definitely not impressed with you, Jamie."

"What?" he said, his voice low.

"You're supposed to be a great strategist or whatever, but I haven't seen anything. Nothing."

Jamie just smiled hearing that, and replied, "Well like you said, the duel just started. Have a little patience, grasshopper."

"Feh, ill set two reverse cards and end my turn." said Xavier.

"And that makes it my turn." said Knowledge, drawing his card. He looked over at Natasha for a moment thought. _She's been pretty quiet this whole duel not really getting into the middle of this thing that Jamie and Xavier seem to have against one another. And it's usually the quiet ones that can be the most dangerous and damaging._

"Natasha." said Knowledge.

"What?" she asked impatiently, looking at Jamie's side of the field.

"I've heard that duelists that like to keep quiet are like people in life, they're sure to toss you some surprises."

"Stop pestering Natasha-san." called out Xavier.

"It's all right, he makes a good point. Go ahead and show me your best, because I will not hold back my best either."

Janet, who was still watching from the sidelines, had to agree with Natasha. _Since this is a Tag Duel, she might not get to play her best cards but I don't have a doubt that she will turn up the heat on Catravious and Jamie._ She looked at Knowledge, slightly worried about him. _Going against someone like Natasha is tough but to do it with a tag partner that could slow you down is tougher. Natasha is great but I guess it's the same for her. I guess the team that plays more like a team might have the best shot of winning._

Knowledge smiled and turned his attention to Xavier, "You need to worry about yourself right now."

"Why should I?" asked Xavier.

"Because I'm about to do this." He said and pointed to his Divine Dragon Ragnarak, which was still sitting in defense mode. But then it sprang up and started to take flight toward the center of the field where the hole in the Field Magic Zone was.

"You don't mean…" started Jamie.

"Fusion Gate applies to all players on the field and I have a Fusion Monster that I can summon too. I send Divine Dragon Ragnorak and Lord of Dragon into the gate!"

Everyone watched as a card form of Lord of Dragon appeared at Knowledge's feet and followed close behind his Divine Dragon as they both disappeared into the hole.

"Fusion Summon! King Dragun! (2400/1200)" called out Knowledge. A gunshot like explosion of noise and light came from the hole and a large white orb came out and fluttered down to Knowledge's side of the field. King Dragun's form started to appear in silhouetted form in the light and as the light faded, more and more detail came up as Knowledge's new monster totally materialized on the field.

"And King Dragun has a very special effect. Not only does it retain the ability of Lord of Dragon to negate any effects that target my dragons, but…" he held a card up from his hand, "It allows me to Special Summon one Dragon-Type monster once per turn."

"Could it be?" exclaimed Janet.

"It's not…" started Jamie.

"From the special effect of King Dragun, I Special Summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

"Blue-Eyes!" said Jamie, Natasha, Xavier and Janet in unison. All eyes went toward the sky as a figure seemed to block the late afternoon sunlight. Blue-Eyes flew in with the sun to its back and floated down to a stop right behind Knowledge. He looked to Natasha's field with her lone Atomic Firefly (100/200) and to Xavier's field with his Des Kangaroo (1500/1700), both of which were in defense mode and that Unhappy Girl (400/300) in attack mode. Damaging himself wasn't really an exciting option but walking into a potential trap wasn't either. Oddly, there was something that bugged Knowledge about that Des Kangaroo, he just couldn't place it. Right on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't form the words for it. But it was that notion that made him want to remove it from the field as quickly as possible. But he had an opportunity to inflict major damage to Natasha and Xavier's Life Points and he wasn't going to let it slip.

"King Dragun (2400/1500), Blue-Eyes (3000/2500), attack The Unhappy Girl (400/300) now!" called out Knowledge.

Jamie watched eagerly, if this combined attack worked, they would win the duel. But Xavier wouldn't be a fool to leave his Unhappy Girl out if he couldn't protect it somehow. Knowledge should know that and he's attacking? Sure enough, he picked off Xavier reaching for the trigger to his reverse cards.

"It isn't over! Reverse Card, Open! Rush Recklessly!"

Blue-Eyes and King Dragun let both of their attacks fly at the same time, Blue-Eyes from it's mouth and King Dragun from its hands. They merged in the air to form a psychedelic looking red and blue corkscrew swirling beam that was heading to Xavier. A counter appeared with (5400) on it next to Blue-Eyes and King Dragun, the total attack power of this and a counter of (1100) next to the seriously Unhappy Girl, showing her adjusted attack power. She held her hands out in a defensive position and as the beam crashed down on them, amazingly, they held. Small sparks and flashes of the beams splintered away from them but she endured until the last bit of the attack. Then she collapsed in a heap on her knees. Knowledge smiled as he heard both Natasha's and Xavier's Life Points click all the way down from 4000 to 800.

KNOWLEDGE & JAMIE: 4000

NATASHA & XAVIER: 800

But through it all, Natasha and Xavier were smiling and Knowledge couldn't figure out why.

* * *

_This wasn't much of a cliffhanger. Anyone that knows the game knows what Knowledge did. It's what's going to happen as a result of it that makes it something to chew on. This duel is going to change Knowledge's view on his Blue-Eyes, Natasha and his playing style. And don't think that Jamie is going to be left without some humbling too. _

_Like i said, the site ate my summaries and im not really feeling the urge to re-repeat myself since i had a thunderstorm last night that blacked out my computer. I didn't lose much, but i lost the last few turns of a duel i was writing out. Nothing i can't fix. grumble...>_

_Anyway, next time...well, the duel between Knowledge and Jamie vs. Xavier and Natasha closes out. Someone becomes a 5 year old about losing, Terry searches for the last Millennium Item, the Millennium Eye, and its Guardian and a certain guy catches wind of the finale of the tag duel. All in a chapter called Learning Experiences._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	16. Learning Experiences

_Disclaimer: buzz off 4Money, everybody would love me if i owned it! But sadly, i don't have enough to probably just buy out an episode!_

_Apologies to not updating sooner, I went out, got happy and all that and didn't have the time to upload the next chapter to So here we are now. Knowledge got himself in a little jam with Jamie and now the two of them gotta find a way to win against some of Clan Prime's finest in Xavier and their leader, Natasha Chapel. _

_Just a little side note. Up until the GX series and, i believe, the card set Elemental Energy, NO ONE used Fusion as their main deck type. It's nice to see that such a underused deck type is making a comeback, even if people that i see only use E-Hero Decks. I had a thought about having a character with an E-Hero deck, i'm still tossing that idea around. _

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 16: Learning Experiences

"What's so funny?" Knowledge asked.

"Janet was right when she told me you hadn't quite earned that nickname of yours yet." said Natasha.

"Huh?" he said, whipping his head in the direction of Janet who was still watching the duel but now had some rosiness in those cheeks.

"The Unhappy Girl just made your monsters into vegetables, man!" shouted Jamie.

"Right," said Xavier, "When The Unhappy Girl is attacked or is attacking, the monster involved besides her cannot declare battle until she leaves the field. And I don't have any intention of removing it soon."

Knowledge let his mouth hang open but had to catch it to save face. And he did so just in time to catch The Unhappy Girl look up at Blue-Eyes and King Dragun from its knees. Tears were forming in its eyes and one slowly ran down her cheek and went from her chin and started to drop to the grid ground. But before it did it seemed to hang in the air for a moment. Then it just floated and started to carry itself over to Knowledge's field. Another tear had dropped and it was following the first. Then they started to change shape, like a large nearly clear box. And both of those boxes enclosed themselves around Knowledge's monsters.

_I should have known better! Now Blue-Eyes and King Dragun are paralyzed for good._ Knowledge looked up at his favorite monster. _Blue-Eyes..._

"I'll end it there." Knowledge said dejectedly, looking toward the ground.

A silence swept over the field for a moment. Knowledge looked up and looked toward Natasha, whose turn it was now. Knowledge didn't say anything but just looked at her eyes. She stood there, her disk equipped arm held horizontally across her chest.

"Someone once told me…" started Natasha quietly, "Someone once told me that strength isn't everything, or intelligence, or stamina. Balance is. That if you have that, you can do all you can do. It makes sense, Catravious, because you don't have it and you're losing not only for yourself but for your teammate."

"I don't need a lecture, I just made a mistake." Knowledge said, refusing to look up at her right now.

Natasha shook her head, "What you need to do is learn, because I can tell you right now…" and she closed her eyes. "That if it was one-on-one, you would have lost against me."

"What!" shouted Knowledge, insulted.

"Don't you think the same thing, Janet?" she asked. She looked toward her friend and Janet didn't say anything.

"Janet?" said Knowledge.

"I'm sorry, I'd agree." said Janet.

"Janet…Why?" said Knowledge.

"I'll tell you." said Natasha. "If you can turn this around and win." She put her fingers on her deck before speaking again. "But I will not make it easy for you, or your partner."

Natasha drew her card and slid it into her hand, "I'll play this Spell Card." she said, sliding a card into the Spell/Trap Card slot. When it came to the field, Jamie was the first to speak.

"Cost Down?" he stated.

"Yes, by discarding 1 card from my hand, I can make all the levels of monsters in my hand go down by two. And I can turn a monster that usually requires two sacrifices," her monster, Atomic Firefly (100/200) started to get surrounded by some white smoke. "Into a monster that requires one sacrifice. So I sacrifice Atomic Firefly to summon Guardian Angel Joan!"

The smoke that surrounded Natasha's monster started to grow taller and taller, to the height of an adult. That smoke didn't disappear when white feather wings shot out from either side of the now smoke whirlwind. Then the smoke started to disappear from the ground up. Knowledge and Jamie looked at Natasha's new monster, Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000).

"2800 attack points…" whispered Jamie.

Knowledge looked on but wasn't all there.

"Who do you attack, Natasha-san?" asked Xavier.

"Hmm…three monsters on their field, one that's too strong to attack, one with an attack power of 2400 and one that's binded by my Shadow Spell Trap Card."

"Always loved suspense…" muttered Jamie.

"And you hated to take things seriously." Natasha snapped back. "If you could not do it, you wouldn't would you? Just like a kid."

"Whatever." brushed off Jamie.

Natasha said nothing more and looked between Jamie's Magical Marionette and the rather stumped looking Catravious and his King Dragun. Much as she wanted to knock off Jamie's monster to spite him, the best choice strategically and for her monsters effect was not Marionette.

"Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000), attack King Dragun (2400/1500)!"

Knowledge was looking down when he heard the attack order and didn't even raise his head.

"Set Card, Open!" called out Jamie. Knowledge lifted his head and looked over at his partner.

"Blast Held By a Tribute!"

"That card!" exclaimed Natasha.

"Yep yep, Blast Held By a Tribute can only be activated when my opponent attacks with a monster that has been Sacrifice Summoned or Set. All your monsters are destroyed and you take 1000 points of damage to your Life Points."

Jamie pointed toward Natasha's Guardian Angel Joan, "Joan is destroyed and we win the duel!"

"I don't think so." said Natasha.

"What?" said Jamie.

"Counter Trap, Open!" called out Xavier, his arm sweeping across the top of his set card. "7 Tools of the Bandit!"

As soon as Xavier's card came up on the field face up and started to glow, Jamie saw a little swiss army knife pop out and cross the field to his Trap Card. It stopped and out popped all its little gadgets. Jamie glanced sharp white strings of light as the knife 'cut' his card to literally ribbons that floated behind him and off the field. Jamie just stared in disbelief.

Knowledge didn't even look up to see his monster destroyed. He saw pieces of polygons pass by him and a strong gust pass but that was all.

KNOWLEDGE & JAMIE: 3600

NATASHA & XAVIER: 800

"Guardian Angel Joan's special effect now comes into play." Natasha said gleefully. She raised her Duel Disk and Xavier did likewise as Guardian Angel Joan raised her arms. A bunch of little white balls of light formed in her hand and trickled down from there to their Duel Disks.

"Guardian Angel Joan special effect is rather unique. It lets me take the attack power of any monster that she destroys and add that number to my Life Points. King Dragun's attack power was 2400, therefore that number is added to our Life Points."

The white lights stopped flowing and Jamie saw both of their Life Counters go up from 800 Life Points to 3200 Life Points.

KNOWLEDGE & JAMIE: 3600

NATASHA & XAVIER: 3200

"But you forgot something." stated Jamie, "Using 7 Tools of the Bandit negates the activation of a Trap Card and destroys it, but it costs 1000 Life Points."

Xavier and Natasha's still raised Duel Disks counted down from 3200 Life Points to 2200.

KNOWLEDGE & JAMIE: 3600

NATASHA & XAVIER: 2200

"And you're missing something too." said a smug Xavier.

"With no more King Dragun, no more dragon army." stated Xavier, laughing, "Excellent, Natasha-san!"

"Nice play, Xavier!" cried out Natasha.

"Knowledge…" Jamie said, unheard by anyone but him. He looked at his Life Counter which reflected Natasha's recent attack, dropping them to 3600 Life Points.

"Catravious…" Janet whispered to herself.

Knowledge, aware his monster had been destroyed, looked up at his favorite monster, his Blue Eyes. Trapped because of his dumb mistake. _Natasha was right, I don't deserve to have that name..._

"Knowledge!" Jamie called out. "I know you, man. You messed up and you don't want to be bothered right now but listen to me. The game isn't over because of one mistake. It isn't over because one monster is locked down."

"Yes, it actually is." said Knowledge.

Jamie stopped for a moment, thinking about something. _You know, Natasha made good points about the both of us. He can't seem to learn from mistakes and he genuinely seems afraid to take her on. That she's that much better than him. And me...she hit it on the head, I don't take things as seriously as I should..._

"Listen, what would someone say to see you give up now? What would your own Blue-Eyes say to see you giving up now?"

Knowledge looked at Blue-Eyes. _Blue-Eyes can't tell me anything. It isn't real. _

"What do you think Janet might say to you?" asked Jamie.

Knowledge lifted his head enough to look over toward Janet. She wasn't even looking at him; she was looking toward Natasha and Xavier's side of the field. Knowledge kept looking and she must have felt him watching her because she turned and looked at him. Knowledge saw the look in her eyes. It was nothing that could be confused for something else. Embarrassment. He was embarrassing her?

"Enough of this chit-chat make your move, Jamie!" said Xavier.

"Very well." Jamie said, as he drew his card. _I don't think I can count on Knowledge to back me up anymore. Whatever has him has him good. And there's nothing I can hope to do against two opponents at once._

"If balance is key, then I rely too much on knowledge. On facts, clear cut things."

"Huh?" said Jamie. He whipped his head around to see Knowledge speaking and looking up at his Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"The one thing that balances out too much knowledge…maybe that's faith? When you don't know what to do, just trust that something or someone will come to you."

Natasha looked at Knowledge with a look of surprise on her face. Knowledge turned and faced Jamie as he continued speaking.

"So if I 'know' that Blue-Eyes isn't real, what if it was? I think…that it'd want to keep fighting. So that's what I'll do. That's what WE'LL do, right Jamie?"

Jamie looked at his partner, stunned. _How does he DO that?_ He promptly got rid of the stunned look on his face and brought out a wide smile.

"That's EXACTLY what we'll do!"

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 5:45PM

Terry was walking away from the warehouses, a new backpack he had got from Stone containing the Millennium Ankh and Rod. His own Millennium Puzzle still dangled from his neck as he walked. He turned over what he knew in his mind.

_As I understand it, Re'-Sha Shythe lived in Ancient Egypt. Her father was part of a group of priests that had that God Sight ability. He breaks the Egyptian and God's laws and uses it to save Re'-Sha from being killed early. Annubis revoked the ability so that they could only see their own selfish futures. So afterwards, when Annubis passed judgment on the whole people with a plague, he went further and passed judgment that Re'-Sha soul wouldn't get to rest, it would have no place to go._

_And from what I understand now, after a period of time where her soul floated around on Earth causing trouble, priests sealed her soul away in this Realm of Monsters. Apparently to end it all. But while she was in there, her anger and frustration and fury somehow became a source of power for her. My guess is that she found some kind of way to get back to this realm and still cause more trouble. But whatever that may be, she was pulled out of that realm and then sealed into the Millennium Ring. And to keep her there, they used five other Millennium Items to keep her there for good._

_And that's about all I know from the past. Fast forward to the present and I duel against Re'-Sha in the here and now. Guess it's safe to assume she has found some way to not only come back to this realm but be in a physical body. She says she wants me dead because of a role I will play in Future History against her. I beat her and she disappears. But not before she did that magic act which as I understand it was a way to unlock some of her 'powers'. Then Shadi visits me with this Millennium Item and tells me that it's my destiny to stop her from accomplishing her desires._

_Then I faced off against Scale and learned that my Millennium Puzzle was created after the other six were. And then Re'-Sha comes back and kills him. Afterwards I meet with Stone and learned from him that these Millennium Items have dark energy in them that can be manipulated. Also that these Millennium Items were given to people and that they were held by the best duelists. If one owner were to challenge another, it would result in a Game of Darkness most times designed to kill the weaker, the loser. And I also find out that Re'-Sha had been sealed away not once but twice. She got her more recent home in the Millennium Ring only after the attempt to seal her in the Realm of Monsters didn't work. Reason? I guess that all her emotions formed into power for her and she caused more trouble from that place too._

_And that leads to the here and now. Apparently the Millennium Puzzle is or has something to do with some type of great weapon that the Ancient Egyptians used. And that's about all of the story I have so far._

Terry had been wandering pretty aimlessly through the streets heading South since he was at the northern most point of the downtown area. He found a low wall nearby and jumped up and sat for a moment. He had made it to about a good few block within the Millstone Tower's area but was really in the well-to-do area of downtown. He slumped forward with his hands clasped, rested his chin on those hands and started thinking again.

_I guess its pretty safe to assume that if Re'-Sha is looking to undo her past and get her hands on some power, she's after this power that the Millennium Puzzle has some connection to. _

_And I get the feeling that Shadi kept me in the dark about that intentionally. I guess I can handle having a murderer after me but not be tempted about some legendary power or whatever. Doesn't matter anyway, I don't think I'll need it._

"Hey, mister?"

Terry jumped a little being so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice a kid about his age that was standing on the sidewalk next to him.

"Yeah?" asked Terry. He looked at this kid and saw a fairly well dressed boy about his age. He wore a Hilfiger jean jacket over a white t-shirt and had on a backpack. Light blue jeans, Hillfiger, with white Nike looking white shoes. Blonde hair and blue eyes, well actually one blue eye. He had an eyepatch over his right eye.

_Pretty common rich kid, im pretty close to their part of the city now._ Thought Terry.

"You know where I can find a lot of duelists?"the kidasked innocently.

"You ought to try the square, where I heard a lot of duelists are." replied Terry.

"Nah, ive been there. A pretty common rich kid like me can't find a challenge there."

"Wha-Huh?" stuttered Terry.

_Tweett…teet.._

"What the…" started Terry. The kid started walking away, saying this as he went. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Terry."

Terry straightened up, very confused by what had just happened here. And when it fell into place, he looked up like a man enlightned and looked for the guy who was rounding a corner a few blocks away from Terry.

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Terry, jumping from the wall and into a run after his last Guardian.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 5:50PM

Jamie was grinning like he knew something that everyone else didn't and he did. That this duel wasn't over yet, it was going to get very exciting now. He looked over the field and took in the look of the area. Natasha Chapel had her Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000) in attack position on the field with no reverse cards, save a face up Shadow Spell Trap Card. Michael Xavier had a Des Kangaroo (1500/1700) in defense position with no reverse cards. But he also has the Field Magic Fusion Gate on the field but no more cards in his hand against Natasha's two. He looked over at his revitalized partner, Knowledge, who had his Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) and one reverse card on his field with two cards in his hand. Jamie looked his own field over, his Magical Marionette was bound by Natasha's Shadow Spell Trap Card and he had two cards in his hand, including his Pot of Greed.

"My turn! Draw!" said Jamie.

Knowledge, meanwhile, was staring at Xavier's field. Something about that Des Kangaroo bugged him badly, and it was a serious bad. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

"From my hand, ill play Pot of Greed." said Jamie and quickly drew two more cards.

"Make every play count." called over Knowledge.

Jamie nodded, looking into his hand intently. He had to thank his lucky stars because he just drew something really nice.

_But first, I have a little business with Miss Chapel..._

"OK, Natasha, I'm coming for you!" Jamie called out.

"Bring it!" she called back.

"From my hand, Ill play Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroy your Shadow Spell!"

Jamie's Spell Card appeared and a strong directed gust aimed directly for Shadow Spell blew it away past Natasha and into the air behind her before exploding in an array of red polygons. The chains that bound his Magical Marionette also disappeared and it 'stretched' its arms after spending so much time in those chains.

"What good does that do?" asked Xavier.

"Oh, you don't know my Spellcasters very well do you, Xavier?"

Everybody stopped and watched as Jamie's monster started to cover itself in a green looking aura of some kind. Actually it looked more like a green flame that was burning on the outside of his monsters body.

"Magical Marionette has a unique ability, whenever a Spell Card is played, one Spell Counter is equipped to it."

"A Spell Counter?" asked Natasha.

"Yes, and for every Spell Counter on my monster, it gets 200 more attack points!"

"I've played Pot of Greed and Cost Down since that monster was on the field…" said Natasha to herself.

"I played Rush Recklessly…" said Xavier.

"But I played Enemy Controller!" added Knowledge.

"And I played Mystical Space Typhoon and Pot of Greed. That's a total of 6 Spell Counters and 1200 more attack points! Magical Marionette, power up!"

Magical Marionette pumped its arms and the green flame still around it grew higher and higher until it was maybe 3 times as tall as Jamie himself. Then the flame slowly sank down and just barely covered Magical Marionette, now with it's stats changed. (3200/1000)

"You…" Natasha started to say.

"No, YOU forgot all about my monster didn't you Natasha? Magical Marionette (3200/1000) attack Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!"

Natasha's monster, which was floating on her side of the field, floated backwards and raised its arms as if to protect itself but it wouldn't matter. Marionette crossed its arms then pointed them to the sky. Off went it's strings and this time, they wrapped themselves around Natasha's monster's arms, legs, torso and head. The fingers on Marionette started twitching and likewise Joan started to do a funny dance, her face constricted from her body not moving from her own commands. Then the dance ended and Joan, still under Marionette's guidance, turned to Natasha and raised a hand and waved goodbye to her. Marionette then yanked its arms downward then Joan took off skyward and it was gone.

"You little…" started Xavier.

"Quiet." commanded Jamie. "And so you know, you took 400 points of damage there."

Xavier looked at his Duel Disk to see his Life Counter drop to 1800.

KNOWLEDGE & JAMIE:3600

NATASHA & XAVIER: 1800

Natasha, looking at Catravious and Jamie with her arms crossed across her chest, started to wonder. _Through all the stuff Michael and I have said and done to those two, they're still in the game and they're winning. That's quite a pair there. Catravious shows how quickly he can learn and be humble and Jamie shows how he can become the adult and mature and strategizing one when he has to._

"I don't need Natasha-san! I can beat you on my own!" said Xavier.

"Doubt it." said Jamie matter of factly.

"Michael, what are you talking about?" asked Natasha.

Xavier looked over at his partner, "I'm playing to win, not to confirm someone else's duel skills. And I won't lose to guys like these!" He waved his hand in the direction of Knowledge and Jamie. He turned toward Jamie and Knowledge.

"Natasha-san taught me a lot but I'm seeing that there are things I have to learn on my own. And the first thing I'm learning is that I need to do things on my own."

"Michael, that not the right idea…" Janet called from the side.

"Be quiet, Janet. Not only does this battle NOT concern you but I don't need advice from a novice. My turn! Draw!" He said and held his drawn card, his only card incidentally.

Jamie looked at Xavier closely. _What just brought this fit on? If he plans on going on his own against two and expects to win he's crazy._

Xavier looked at his monster on the field. "I've got one monster that even a Blue-Eyes cant touch."

Knowledge's eyes went wide, Des Kangaroo + a specific type of monster a giant of a monster.

"You couldn't have drawn it!" exclaimed Knowledge.

Natasha looked at Knowledge and then knew exactly what he was talking about. Jamie was the only one that didn't know.

"I'll send Des Kangaroo and my drawn card, Big Koala (2700/2000) into the Fusion Gate!"

The green kangaroo and a card form of Big Koala appeared on the ground and both went into the fusion gate. But this time, when then headed in, something was wrong. A big red orb was the only thing that was coming out of the gate.

"What kind of monster is that?" said Jamie.

"Don't be fooled, that's dangerous!" called Knowledge.

The red orb that was slowly coming out of the gate was not a orb at all. It was a glove, an enormous red boxing glove that was attached to a broad arm that was rising out of the gate. The arm continued into a gigantic green head that looked very similar to Big Koala except with red eyes and a set of mean looking teeth. And this monster wasn't just big, it was tall. It seriously towered over all the duelists and easily dwarfed Blue-Eyes in size.

"Meet the Master of Oz (4200/3700)!" called out Xaver.

"The Master of Oz!" exclaimed Jamie.

"4200 attack points!" exhaled Knowledge.

"Now! Master of Oz! Attack! Destroy Magical Marionette (3200/1000)!"

Master of Oz looked down at Jamie's Magical Marionette. There was no special attack or extraordinary feat happening. The Master of Oz raised its gloved fist and brought it down with surprising quickness toward Jamie's monster.

Jamie's eyes went wide like a small animal caught in headlights.

"Reveal Trap Card!"

Everyone heard that but couldn't hear the rest over a terrible noise that came over the field. Natasha and Jamie had to cover their ears; Xavier just looked around for wherever the noise was coming from. Oddly, Janet on the side heard it and had a small grin on her face while she watched Catravious who was the only one not acting crazy. The noise lasted for a few more seconds and Natasha looked up to see the noise was actually coming from Blue-Eyes, coming from it roaring. Xaiver and Jamie saw it too.

"My Trap Card, Threatening Roar, forbids my opponent from attacking for the turn that this card is activated."

Master of Oz heard that roar coming from Blue-Eyes and it stopped pretty near to crushing Magical Marionette under its fist. Then it stepped away with a look of concern on its enormous mug.

Over on the sidelines, Janet cracked another smile, remembering how Catravious had used that very card against her. And it was pretty close to when he beat her. _Maybe...?_

Knowledge wiped a little sweat off his brow and exhaled long and loud. _4200 attack points is nothing that I can beat with what I have on the field. But Jamie can do it for me. Another effect of Magical Marionette is pretty nice. Like he said, every time a Spell Card is activated, a Spell Counter is added to Magical Marionette. That counter increases it's attack power by 200 points. But also, if a player wants to, he can remove 2 of those Spell Counters to destroy one monster on the field. _

_But Natasha still worries me. I can't put a finger to it, but...i really 'feel' that she's..._

"My turn! Draw!" said Knowledge.

"I'll play Twin-Headed Behemoth (1500/1200) in defense mode. And ill switch Blue-Eyes (3000/2500) to defense mode too. I'll set one reverse card and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" called Natasha. "And im going to play this Spell Card, Monster Reborn!"

"Monster Reborn?" said Xavier, almost in a rhetorical way.

"Don't forget, you activated a Spell Card, so my Magical Marionette gets another Spell Counter and 200 more attack points, bringing it to 3400." Jamie pointed out.

"Doesn't matter now, there's only one monster I would want to bring back. Come back, Guardian Angel Joan!" Natasha called out.

Natasha looked up toward the sky and saw her monster descending from the clouds much like a beautiful angel straight out of heaven. Except this angel was very dangerous to Knowledge in particular.

"Blue-Eyes is in defense mode and I can easily topple it now!" exclaimed Natasha excitedly. A low chuckle from Knowledge had stopped her giggling.

"What's so funny?" Natasha asked.

"You're too predictable, Natasha…You will not take my Blue-Eyes!" said Knowledge. "Reveal Trap Card! Continuous Trap, Royal Oppression!"

"What!"

And as soon as Knowledge called the name of that card, Guardian Angel Joan started to swagger and sway in the air. Her face got flushed and then her body started to actually fade in and out of sight. Then she started fading and appearing in longer intervals until one moment when she disappeared and didn't come back this time.

"Royal Oppression lets me negate a Special Summon and the effect of a card that Special Summons a monster and destroys them by paying 800 Life Points. But this effect can be used by my opponent as well as me." Knowledge turned to Jamie. "And since I negated the activation of that Spell Card, Magical Marionette has to lose the Spell Counter that it just got."

Jamie smiled and just waved him off, "It's no big deal."

KNOWLEDGE & JAMIE:2800

NATASHA & XAVIER: 1800

"No, THIS is your big deal." cut in Xavier, talking about his Master of Oz (4200/3700). "And I see that Natasha-san isn't as great…isn't as great as I made her out to be." As he said it, he lowered his head to conceal the emotion that Jamie knew he heard in his voice. He didn't take much notice to the Mystical Elf (800/2000) that Natasha played afterwards in defense mode.

"Really? I don't see much of a big deal. It's my turn now. And I draw!" called out Jamie.

Knowledge looked over at Jamie looking into his hand and without looking up from those cards, Jamie spoke to him.

"Knowledge, do you trust me?"

Knowledge didn't answer immediately. He knew that Jamie had a plan, which was better than the nothing he had. And it probably had to involve his Blue-Eyes. He looked up at his monster and then down to his Duel Disk at the card sitting there.

_Blue-Eyes..._

"Yeah, man. I trust you."

"OK then. First, ill play this monster face down in defense mode. Then I'll play this Spell Card, Creature Swap!"

"Huh?" said Knowledge.

"Creature Swap?" asked Xavier.

"This Spell Card allows me to switch control of one of my monsters on the field with another player's monster on the field. But neither of the switched monsters can change their Battle Positions during that turn."

"My…My Master of Oz?" said Xavier. But Jamie just smiled.

"I never said that. My Spell Card's targets are my reverse monster and Knowledge's Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

With that said, a weird looking spiral appeared in the sky, it was clear and refracted all the light around it and both Blue-Eyes and the monster that Jamie selected were carried into the 'thing'. Jamie looked over and Knowledge and both of them started walking over toward each other. Jamie took his recently set reverse monster and set it on Knowledge's Duel Disk so he couldn't see it. Knowledge, however, had his Blue-Eyes card in his hand and slowly handed it to Jamie. All Jamie had to do was look at him and he could tell that this monster had a lot more meaning to Knowledge and that he would have to treat it with utmost respect. Jamie nodded to Knowledge and they both seemed to understand what was going on. Both of them walked back to their respective sides of the field and Jamie continued his turn.

"Blue-Eyes is my newest monster." Jamie said and pointed to the sky, where the spiral was still active. Blue-Eyes flew out of it again and landed on Jamie's field. He now had Blue Eyes on his field along with his powered up Magical Marionette (3400/1000), 200 points stronger from Creature Swap. Knowledge just had a reverse monster and his Twin Headed Behemoth (1500/1200). Xavier had the infamous Master of Oz (4200/3700). Natasha had a Mystical Elf (800/2000) but not for long.

"Magical Marionette (3400/1000) attack Natasha's Mystical Elf (800/2000)!" called out Jamie. It was kinda disturbing to watch Marionette destroy the peaceful elf but Jamie got over it, he wanted to win now.

Natasha and Xavier, however were thinking the exact same thing after the attack was over. _Why didn't he use Marionette's effect to destroy a monster?_

Jamie looked down at the last card in his hand and set it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared between his Blue-Eyes and Magical Marionette.

"That ends my turn." said Jamie.

All eyes turned to Xavier, because Natasha and now Knowledge were thinking the same thing, if he destroyed Magical Marionette, the duel would be over. No chance, even with Blue-Eyes, for Jamie and Knowledge to win. And they also wondered something else. The Unhappy Girl, she was still on the field in attack mode, though obstructed by Master of Oz. If he had attacked there instead of Mystical Elf, the duel would've been over.

Xavier was staring at Jamie, he had been staring since he announced that attack against Natasha-san's Mystical Elf and set his last card down on the field. But Jamie didn't shy away in returning the stare. Neither of these two duelists cared for each other and it only got worse as the duel progressed. And Jamie stared with equal intensity at Xavier, he wasn't intimidated by this guy anymore than he was by him. And so they stood for a moment until Xavier made up his mind.

"My Master of Oz (4200/3700), destroy Magical Marionette (3200/1000) and bring me my victory! Attack!" he pointed toward Jamie's monster as Xavier's own monster reared back its boxing glove covered fist.

"Heh…" was all Jamie said.

"What's so funny?" asked Xavier.

"You." Jamie said. "Set Card, Open! Covering Fire!"

Jamie's Trap Card flipped up onto the field for everyone to see and then Blue-Eyes, which was well out of the range of Master of Oz's descending fist, moved right behind the Magical Marionette. Then it opened its mouth and started to collect energy in that dangerous mouth.

Knowledge, not Jamie, started explaining Covering Fire's effect. "Covering Fire lets Jamie boost the attack power of an attacked monster on his side of the field by the attack points of another monster on his field. Xavier, you attacked Jamie's Magical Marionette with an attack power of 3400."

Jamie chipped in, "And I add the 3000 attack points of Knowledge's Blue-Eyes White Dragon to that."

"That's a total of 6400 attack points!" exclaimed Natasha.

"Allright, Blue-Eyes, Magical Marionette, together, counterattack!" Jamie ordered.

And on the command, both Blue-Eyes and Magical Marionette fired off beam attacks, one red and one blue, that collided with Master of Oz's fist. It was a classical power struggle, two weaker monsters banding together on one ultimately stronger monster. And for a time, Master of Oz was still getting the best of it, its fist being 'pushed' by the combined attack but it still continued to fall toward Jamie's monsters. But there's only one outcome of an attack of 6200 versus 4200. In a sudden moment, Xavier's monster started losing ground to the attack and then even more suddenly, that beam attack overtook the monster's arm entirely.

"Take him down!"yelled out Knowledge.

"Go Magical Marionette!" Jamie hollered.

The attack that was overtaking the arm of Xavier's monster, which had a pained look on its big face, spread quickly to then overtake its entire body. A silhouette of Xavier's monster was all that you could see inside that beam attack. Ordinary people might have been frightened to see a bright red and blue beam shooting off into the sky like that. The duelists watching the duel found it rather exhilarating, a great climax to this great duel.

* * *

From a nearby duel that was just now wrapping up, a still stone faced Lamar Vega looked skyward and saw that red and blue beam that was heading skyward. He watched his Red-Eyes Black Dragon fade away from the duel that had just finished and kept looking at that beam, then he saw a large shadow in that beam that slowly disappeared into nothing. That was intriguing enough to warrant him to wander that way and see what was happening.

* * *

Back with the Tag Team duel, the power struggle between Master of Oz and the combined attack of Blue-Eyes and Magical Marionette was all but over. Actually, the beams ended and the last bit of the beams passed over where Xavier's monster used to stand, there was now only matter that sparkled as it fell from high in the sky downward and onto the gridded ground of their duel field. Xavier just stared forward, his hands at his sides, with a look of shock on his face. Jamie, however, was looking right at Xavier hoping for some kind of reaction out of the guy that was full of so much life only a few turns ago.

"Xavier, don't even do it." said Natasha.

"What?" he said, not breaking contact with Jamie's gaze.

"If you cant see it now…" she said, not bothering to finish the sentence.

"No, I see things perfectly now. You're completely useless as a partner and you only slow me down!"

Natasha had stayed the ideal of calm throughout but now she was starting to blow.

"What!" she shouted.

"I can beat the two of these fools on my own without –"

"And where are you now? Completely naked. Admit it, Michael." Natasha pointed out.

"I admit nothing." he growled. He reached into his pocket and fished out two Puzzle Cards and threw them to the ground. Then he did an amazing thing. He reset his Duel Disk back to it's rest position and walked out of the duel. No one said anything, he walked past the small crowd, who parted like they wanted nothing to do with him, and out down the street.

_What a coward, hope I never have to lay eyes on him ever again._ Jamie thought to himself.

"Knowledge," said Natasha.

Knowledge looked toward Natasha, who was turned to look down the street at Xavier who was still visible walking away.

"I got what I wanted out of this duel and something I didn't expect. The game has hit a sour note…"

She turned to face him.

"But I intend to face the end of it with my honor and pride still intact. Make your move if you please."

Jamie, though still upset with Xavier's walking out of the duel, still smiled hearing Natasha's words. _She is still so passionate about dueling, so chivalrous._

"OK, Natasha. My move! Draw!" he called out.

"First ill Flip Summon the monster I got from Jamie." He flipped the card over, "Maha Vailo! (1550/1400) Then ill switch my Twin Headed Behemoth (1500/1200) from defense position to attack position. And finally, ill summon from my hand my Masked Dragon (1400/1100)!"

Knowledge was now completely hidden from view in the small army of monsters that he had summoned on the field. He took a quick mental note of the fact that Jamie did indeed seem to have switched to a Spellcaster type of deck. Something to keep in mind for later on.

"Your attack that Xavier took from his Master of Oz dropped you down to 3300 Life Points. My combined attack power from my monsters goes to 4450. Maha Vailo, Masked Dragon, Twin Headed Behemoth, attack the player directly!" he said pointing to Natasha. Natasha, in response, splayed out her arms spread eagle in anticipation.

Masked Dragon made the first move, it reared its head back and raising itself onto its hind legs. Maha Vailo, Jamie's monster, raised her hands to the sky and lightning or something very similar to it started crackling in her hands. Twin Headed Behemoth however didn't do any such 'charging' it immediately shot off two streams of intense blazing fire from it's mouths. Masked Dragon and Maha Vailo then shot their attacks off quickly afterwards, the both of them merging with the 'flamethrower' like attack of Twin Headed Behemoth. A intense 'beam' of fire that had a corkscrew spiral of white trailing around it, courtesy of Masked Dragon and dotted through that combination were sparks and streaks, both inside and out, from Maha Vailo. And all three exploded into something fierce, a strong gust of wind and a lot of initial noise which followed with a brilliant red and grey burst of fire. Had it not been for the knowledge that this was a game and that wasn't real, concern would have been that something terrible had happened. For Knowledge and Jamie though, that explosion was nothing but an exclamation point of their victory. The fire died and the usual brown cloud formed up around the area.

Jamie heard footsteps through the smoke, Natasha walking toward them apparently. She came out of the smoke, wind sweeping though her curls and was walking toward Knowledge with a grin on her lips. He glanced at Knowledge who was standing completely still. She walked up to him and just stood looking at him, still grinning. Knowledge looked nervous being that close to her and Jamie saw him looking away briefly. Natasha then took a small step back and offered her hand in a handshake. Knowledge looked down at that hand then at Natasha and he started to grin too. He took her hand and shook it enthuastically.

"Very well played." Natasha said as everyone that could see saw her Life Counter drop to 0.

* * *

_A little bit of ill humor. Show of internet hands to anyone that's played against someone in a duel that just quit in the middle of it. (Lots of hands go up). Thought so, isn't that irritating? I wanted to get that out in my story somehow. I hate itbecause i just play the game for fun now, i'm not tournament motivated. So when someone just walks away, i wanna toss something at them.When i think about it, the guy reminds me of Bandit Keith and i didn't really think him up that way. _

_Another point i wanna put out there. I have a deck theme for all my characters, but i try to toss out cards that are hardly used to make my duels more interesting. So you'll see cards like Master of Oz and The Unhappy Girl that make appearances. Or cards like Reverse Trap, Ultimate Offering, etc. But i also tend to stay away from the broken and banned cards. As of this duel, this is the first time i've had someone use Monster Reborn. I don't think it comes into use except one more time. So i dont have plans for the Envoy monsters, Yata, and so on. I have very little love for Chaos but it makes for good duel writing if you dont make it cheap._

_Going on, I'll let you all know now. The last duel of Battle City is coming next chapter! And this chapter introduces a new playing style to Yu-Gi-Oh! that i've had in my head for a while. I think it'd be something cool to use in real life. Also in that chapter, everyone meets everyone, a new 'rivalry' starts up between two characters, a surprise finalist to Battle City and Terry takes on his last Guardian. All in a chapter called Terry vs. Ian - Tactic Yu-Gi-Oh!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	17. Terry vs Ian: Tactic YuGiOh!

_Disclaimer: Alright, how about this...i'll jump on a bull. If i can stay on it's back for 8 seconds, the whole thing is mine!_

_-Gets on bull, lasts a whole 2 seconds before being bucked off, face first into the dirt-_

_Well, here we are with my next chapter. One that introduces a new kind of style of playing. I like this idea and I want to do more with it in maybe some other Yu-Gi-Oh! fic, but it's only got one shot through the course of this story. The rules are fully explained too so you guys shouldn't be lost on it._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 17: Terry vs. Ian – Tactic Yu-Gi-Oh!

TOURNAMENT TIME 6:15PM

A small group had gathered around the smaller group of Natasha Chapel, Knowledge, Jamie Cantou, and Janet Rush. Natasha had three Puzzle Cards in her hand and was about to speak.

"Even though Michael Xavier brought a lot of shame on my clan today acting like a brat, I don't have any problem with giving you two these three Puzzle Cards." She said as she held the three cards out to Jamie. Knowledge was standing next to Jamie and Janet was watching in between and from the side. Natasha passed the Puzzle Cards to Jamie and he took them graciously. Then he swung the hand that had those Puzzle Cards straight into Knowledge's chest. He exhaled loudly and looked at Jamie.

"What you do that for?" he wheezed.

"These things, they're all yours." said Jamie.

"Huh? You still get one card man."

"Nah, I don't need one."

"Yeah, you need six all together, lame. As in you need to collect them." Knowledge said.

Jamie reached into his pocket and brought out his little surprise, his six Puzzle Cards. Knowledge jumped in surprise and stared closely at Jamie's six Puzzle Cards.

"What the –"

"Already beat you to it, lame." Jamie said sarcastically. Jamie's hand was still over Knowledge's chest and he nudged him again with it. Knowledge looked down and gingerly took the cards from Jamie. He looked up at his friend but Jamie was now staring down Natasha. And Natasha had a look of confusion mixed with…maybe frustration if anything, thought Knowledge.

"So you already have a seat to the finals?" she asked rhetorically.

Jamie nodded.

Natasha offered her hand in a handshake. Jamie took it with a small smile on his face, like he was nervous.

"Wish you the best." she said.

"Thanks." Jamie replied.

"Hey Jamie, we might want to get going man." said Knowledge.

"For what?" asked Jamie.

"When you registered yourself, did this Duel Disk tell you how many spots were left in the finals?"

Jamie, who was still facing Natasha and had Knowledge to his back, turned to look at him. "Yeah, it said I was the 2nd out of 6 to register."

"Well, you're looking at the 5th. There's only one spot left now."

"Huh? You sure?"

"Yep." Knowledge said and showed him his Life Counter display that said, indeed, that he was the 5th registered finalist.

_Wonder if Terry has made it in yet?_ Thought Jamie. _What am I thinking? Course he has, he and I have a rematch to attend to. And there's going to be no questioning who the best duelist is after our duel._

Knowledge was also thinking of Terry and of someone else. _Im sure that Terry is there mixed in with these other finalists. But I haven't seen that Re'-Sha girl anywhere._ He remembered the promise he made to himself, the promise to make sure that she would pay for everything she's done. _I think that she'll follow Terry wherever he goes to. And if he's heading to the finals, so is she. And so am I._

Jamie was wondering about those six spots as well but didn't get to think much on them. He saw someone coming down the street he couldn't believe had found them. Janet saw that Jamie was looking at something and when she saw who he was looking at, she stepped to the side and nudged Knowledge who was still messing with his Duel Disk and the registering when he saw what everyone else was looking at.

"Are you following me or something?" asked Knowledge, directing his question to Lamar Vega, who had just dropped in on their chat. Vega, who was still a couple of steps away, replied, "Funny, I didn't think garbage duelists like you were still around."

"Garbage huh?" snapped back Knowledge and she showed Vega his 6 Puzzle Cards.

"So you beat a few amateurs, got lucky." waved off Vega.

"He just beat Natasha Chapel!" said Janet. Vega turned and looked at her and she immediately looked toward the ground.

"In a Tag Duel, after her partner ran off." finished Vega.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. _Wonder how long he's been watching us play..._

Natasha spoke next, "A loss is a loss, doesn't matter about circumstances."

Vega glanced at Natasha. He had certainly heard about her and knew of the skill she possessed. Even in a 2 on 1 duel with those other two guys as her opponents, she still made a definite difference in this game.

"Why are you even here?" asked Knowledge.

Vega looked at Knowledge, "I saw the tail end of a pretty nice looking battle between two monsters not too far from here."

"Probably the battle between that Michael Xavier's Master of Oz and my Magical Marionette and Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Well actually, Knowledge's Blue-Eyes." said Jamie.

"Blue-Eyes…" said Vega aloud. "And you won the duel with that battle?" he asked Jamie.

"Pretty much." said Jamie, not sure what he was getting at.

"Feh," Vega reached into his side jacket pocket and pulled out something clear and rectangular. Puzzle Cards. Actually 6 Puzzle Cards.

"I completely annihilated my opponents to win these. To get stronger. And you won yours off the backs of other people's strategies, luck," he glanced at Janet while he finished. "And by compassion. Simple, you're not qualified to be where I'm going."

"Well when WE get there, you'll just have to do something about it. There's only one spot left in the finals now." Knowledge said, clenching his fist.

"Then that leaves your friend Terry one last chance to get in. And I know that he will." Vega said with a small smile on his lips.

"Huh? He hasn't gotten 6 Puzzle Cards yet?" asked Jamie.

Vega didn't speak, he just loaded his 6 Puzzle Cards into his Duel Disk and brought up the main menu Jamie and Knowledge had both seen after registering. He opted for the Finalists menu, the one Jamie tried to use to look up the other finalist he saw that was registered when he did. But something was different now. The menu now had names.

"Upperdeck just took their time uploading names to the Duel Disks." Vega explained for Jamie who was just about to ask how he did that.

A quick scan of the names and indeed Jamie didn't see the name of Terry Hairston on that list. He saw Vega's name there, but he saw another familiar name. He nudged Knowledge, nodding his head to the name that he was looking at.

"What in the-!" exclaimed Knowledge.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 6:20PM

Terry, still searching for that last Guardian, was circling the block looking desperately for the kid that had to be the last Guardian. He wore an eyepatch and he could only guess what was hidden behind that patch, the Millennium Eye. But he had more reason to hurry now, he had heard the street buzz that there were already a couple of people that had registered for the finals and that time was nearly up.

So not only did he need to find his last Millennium Item, he had to get to the finals and stop Re'-Sha from fulfilling her plans. How, he didn't have an idea but it's not necessary to know at this point. Being there is.

He had already circled the block he had seen the kid on before and was constantly looking through the crowds of people for anyone wearing an eyepatch. Or for his Millennium Puzzle to alert him when he was near. Neither was working so he just kept looking and searching. Hoping for a miracle.

He saw a nearby bench and stopped to take a seat. He wasn't tired but he needed to think. _There's no way that the kid 'left' the area, that's not like the Guardians to run. He's around, that's what my instincts say. I guess its part of the game for me to find him. Damn, and I don't have time for this either._

He started to lean backwards against the back of the bench but shot forward, the end of the Millennium Rod, which was by no means dull, nearly speared his liver. Terry took off his backpack and rearranged his items so the rod wouldn't stick him again. But that's when he thought about what Stone had taught him, about the dark energy of the Millennium Items. That that energy could basically be manipulated in ways as far as your imagination takes you. Maybe it could help him in searching out this kid.

So how could he manipulate that energy into helping him search?_ Somehow I don't think flying or anything stupid like that would be helpful. All I really have are my eyes and my Puzzle which isn't picking up anything. Wait...why not use the both of them together?_

Terry jumped up from the bench and looked around for a secluded spot for him to do his 'magic'. He saw a parking lot across the street and dashed for it. Once across the street, he saw that the lot had only a few cars parked but there were a couple of SUV's parked up against the side of the lot. Perfect place for him. He walked behind those SUV's and sat his backpack down on the ground. He then sat against the wheels of the car, hoping that there wasn't an extra sensitive security system on it. He took a long inhale of breath and let it out slowly. He then took off his Millennium Puzzle, held it, and turned it so the eye on it was facing his forehead.

He wasn't sure where quite to begin so he just started to collect energy. Collecting energy came pretty natural. It's very very similar to people that do things in life by feeding off of their emotions. In this case, you fed off of the natural energy of your body. The little bits of energy that defined cells and made blood flow and beats your heart all contribute. That energy makes your body run but with the help of a Millennium Item as Terry understood it, it acts like a transformer in the literal sense of the word. It transforms that energy into a form that is malleable with the user's mind. Of course, all that energy had to go somewhere when it was starting to be collected so Terry decided to focus that energy into his eyes.

Now came the crucial part, using that energy. He had already decided on how he was going to try to use it and had to borrow a page out of a favorite show of his. He closed his eyes and spoke to his Millennium Puzzle.

"Give me sight beyond sight." Terry asked.

When Terry ventured his eyes open, he was stunned at how easy that had worked for him. He could see, see everything in an x-ray kind of way. Through walls, though vehicles, even people. But it was a big change to the images he guessed his brain had been used to seeing because his eyelids got very heavy quickly and it was dizzying. But it didn't seem to last very long, it was a passing feeling. If anyone was to come across him sitting down there, they would see that his eyes have gone completely golden. No pupils or anything, just gold circles in place of the eyes. There was a little trick to it he figured out very quickly, if he wanted to look much further and deeper into things he could just focus his eyes like looking at something far in the distance. It didn't seem like there was a limit to it either. And if he wanted to look at things closer to his person, just 'zoom back' on it. Cool.

He looked around and could see past the immediate buildings surrounding the parking lot he was sitting in. He started in a slow circle, looking past the immediate buildings around him and got nothing.

_Twttt..._

Until he heard that now familiar buzz in his head. The one that let him know he was close to a Millennium Item. The puzzle must be working together with his sight to track down that kid. He must be in that general direction. He looked deeper, further past buildings and cars and even people. The further he went, the louder the buzzing got in his head. Then it started to get faint. He stopped. _Must have went too far,_ he thought. He came back and the buzz got louder again and then it started getting faint again. He brought his sight back to the strongest point and looked around and saw nothing. Nothing at all, even in the buildings above the street. _Where could he be hiding?_

His eyes went downward for a moment and saw railroads. The underground subways that went under the city. And sure enough, the buzz got louder until, while scanning though the crowds, he spotted the kid. And like a psychic or just a plain nut, he was looking right back at Terry!

The look in his one eye was unmistakable. Somehow he knew that Terry had found him and was waiting for him there. Terry broke the stare and looked at the station name, which was a very good ways away from where he was now. He was close to the Millstone Tower toward the middle of downtown. The place he had to go was close to going toward The Flats, just a few blocks away from the river actually. He really had got out of dodge to have made it there so quickly.

He closed his eyes and exhaled long to disperse the energy he had collected back to his body. When he stood up, he felt a little weak since he wasn't used to using energy like that. He shook it off, time was running out. He got his backpack back on and ran out of the parking lot and headed South for the train station.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 6:30PM

Back with Jamie and the rest of them, Knowledge was still standing there with his mouth open. Vega noted his condition.

_He's going to start collecting bugs there pretty soon._ He thought.

Knowledge walked a little closer to Vega, not looking at the arrogant duelist but at the list he had projecting from his Duel Disk of the list of finalists. He saw his name, Catravious Collins, Jamie Cantou, Lamar Vega, a name of Kwandao Kawamura, unfamiliar to him, and Janet Rush.

"You're a finalist!" Knowledge asked, looking behind him at Janet who was twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"She's that good." Natasha said, matter of factly.

Knowledge looked at Natasha as she said that. _If Janet's that good and she's a student of Natasha's, then Natasha must be a total powerhouse._

"Then you must have already had 6 Puzzle Cards by the time you and him dueled each other. And gave away some extra Puzzle Cards to him for the win that you no longer needed." Said Vega.

Janet nodded.

Knowledge was surprised but could see how it makes sense. She is very strong as a duelist. He shouldn't be surprised actually that she's going to the finals.

Vega was looking at the projection of the list of duelists and thinking to himself. _Jamie Cantou and Catravious Collins and Janet Rush. I know Jamie, he and I were together when that girl attacked us with that Summoned Skull. He's the only one I haven't observed dueling. Janet is balaced between strategy and power, that makes her very dangerous but not unbeatable. Catravious plays for power, Blue-Eyes being his favorite target of power. Kill the power and he'll make for an easy target. He might be getting better though..._ and he turned to look at Knowledge who was leaving with Janet and Jamie. He set his Duel Disk back to rest and started walking after them. _But who was that Kwandao Kawamura? I've never heard of that name. It sounds like an Asian female's name but I've heard nothing of a Japanese player in the states. Also, where is Terry?_

"So you think Terry will make it in?" asked Janet to Jamie and Knowledge.

"I know he will." Jamie replied.

"How can you be sure?" Janet asked.

"A feeling. That's all." He said.

"You're betting on a feeling?" joked Knowledge.

"Yep."

"The odds are against him, there's got to be hundreds of duelists still out there playing right now. And there's no telling how many Puzzle Cards he has." stated Knowledge.

"He'll make it. And then I'm going to defeat him." said Vega from the rear of the group.

"You know, I still don't get what you're doing, Vega." said Jamie. "You say you're looking to beat him and for what? What did he do to you?"

"Terry is the only person in the city that's been able to beat me. He's the best duelist here besides me and I'm going to set the word right. I'm going to beat him and destroy his spirit."

"Doubt it, man." said Jamie. "Because I agree with you that he will make it to the finals but you won't get the chance to beat him. That's my task. That's what this whole tournament means to me."

Vega looked at Jamie and smirked with than insulting tone on his tongue, "You're going to walk from this tournament with some crushed dreams then."

"Keep telling yourself that Vega, because if it comes down to you and I, and the winner gets to play Terry next, you won't win." Jamie said.

Vega smirked and said nothing more.

"So Catravious, are you excited?" asked Janet.

"Hmm?"

"The four of us are going to the finals." she exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Knowledge said, his thoughts elsewhere.

"What's up?" asked Janet.

Knowledge looked down at her and back at Jamie and Vega who were walking a little bit behind the two of them. He took in a breath and began.

"OK, there's this one duelist that I wanted to beat. Either here or in the finals."

Janet looked over her shoulder, "Vega?"

"No," said Knowledge shaking his head. "It's someone different. A woman that Jamie and Terry know. She's the one that got Jamie sent to the hospital. And I promised myself that I would deliver serious punishment on her when I get the chance. She's probably somewhere around in this city and I wanted to find her."

"And beat her in a duel?" finished Janet.

Knowledge shook his head in disagreement. Janet looked at him with a questioning look. His eyes were steeled with something she couldn't put a name to. It definitely wasn't something to make fun of, whoever this woman was Janet felt very sorry for her and concerned for Catravious. Because even though she didn't know exactly what it was that he was feeling, she knew that if he got his wish to duel her, just beating her wouldn't be nearly enough. Not even close.

"Hey…" said Jamie, pointing down the street to something.

"What?" asked Knowledge, turning around. He saw the finger pointing and followed it down further down the street. He saw a bunch of people crossing the street but his eyes automatically tracked on one person that wasn't walking but running across the crosswalk. Knowledge saw the genuine article, Terry Hairston, rushing across the street toward somewhere. And on an unseen cue, Jamie, Knowledge, Vega and Janet ran after him.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 6:45 PM

Terry ran like a fugitive past the crowd that was forming at the stairs that led into the underground train station. He took the stairs two at a time and jumping them pretty close to halfway down. The stairs led down to a platform that had train tracks on both sides of it and two sets of pillars that held the space up. Raised up slabs acted as benches on either side of the tracks but on the other side of the station, opposite the stairs, sat a couple of benches like the others. There the kid sat with his legs crossed and a smile on his face. But now the eyepatch was gone and the Millennium Eye sat clear as day in his right eye socket.

"Hello there." said the kid.

Terry had stopped on the bottom of the stairs but started walking toward the kid. He snapped his Duel Disk into place as he walked.

"Well it doesn't take a mind-reader to know what you want." the kid exhaled.

"It shouldn't, so let's make the intros and do our thing, huh?" Terry smirked.

"Well I know who you are, no need to introduce yourself. I'm Ian."

"How do you know that anyway?" he asked. "According to what Shadi had told me, the Millennium Items do not have the same kinds of powers that everyone thought they had."

"Heh, do they? Or don't they?" he asked back.

Terry fell silent. He honestly didn't believe that he could tell things about him by reading his mind. Still these were some strange times and these were some things that he had no clue about.

"Drop the act, the Millennium Eye isn't gonna help you read my mind." said Terry, hoping he was right.

"Oh well." Ian said, shrugging his shoulders. "You're not the fool I thought. OK, I had people following you, watching you since you ran into Scale and playing against Stone in the restaurant. I know everything." he smiled a big toothy grin and bowed to Terry.

"And this means what?" asked Terry.

"I know all your moves, all your strategies, all your tricks. So I have come up with the perfect game to challenge you with."

Ian got up from the bench and reached into his pocket and pulled out his eyepatch and pulled it over his eye again. Just as he did so, Terry heard a bunch of footsteps coming down the stairs behind him. He turned and saw his friends jumping the steps toward him.

"Guys!" yelled Terry.

"Terry!" called Knowledge and Jamie. They jumped the last few steps and ran the short distance from there to him. Terry put out both of his arms, his hands clenched in fists and Jamie and Knowledge hit his with theirs, their way of saying 'what's up' to each other. Terry saw Janet with them and before he could ask about her, a cough from behind Terry brought him back to what he came to do originally.

"Who's that?" asked Knowledge.

"Pirate in the house!" snickered Jamie.

"Guys, get back. My business." warned Terry.

"For what?" asked Janet.

"Like I was saying before I was interrupted, Terry, I have the perfect game for us to play. Are you ready?" asked Ian.

Terry brought his Duel Disk up level with his chest, "Always."

Unknown to Terry and the rest, Lamar Vega had walked down the same set of steps. He saw the three he had followed down to the station gathered in a semicircle around someone. That person turned and looked at him over his shoulder, hearing footsteps approaching. No doubt about it that was Terry Hairston. _I finally found him, and it looks like he's about to play a duel too._

"Who's that?" Terry said, nodding his head back up the stairs. Janet, Knowledge and Jamie looked and saw Vega standing in the middle of the steps. Knowledge let him know who he was and that he had followed them to Terry, uninvited. Terry turned back to Ian.

"This game will be played a little differently than what you're used to. I will explain it for you. It's what I call 'Tactic Yu-Gi-Oh!"

_Tactic Yu-Gi-Oh?_ thought Terry to himself.

"This game is played with only one Monster Card of your choice, it tests a duelists ability to strategize, among other things. Before we begin the duel, both of us will select one Monster Card from our decks and begin the duel with that particular monster in play. Our 'combatants' if you will. Any other Monster Cards in the deck will be placed in the graveyard. The deck then only has Spell and Trap Cards remaining in it. They will be your tools to help you fight against your opponent. After that, the basic rules and guidelines to the game apply with the exception of one other thing mainly."

Terry waited for him to continue.

"But now, we will select our monsters. Keep in mind that you can play any monster that you choose out of your deck."

Both Terry and Ian started searching through their decks for the monster they would choose to play as their Combatants.

"What kind of a way is that to play?" thought Jamie, rubbing his chin.

"This type of game is fixed." said Vega. He was now standing besides Janet.

"What do you mean, Vega?" she asked.

"So far, if you want to win this type of game, all you have to do is select your highest powered monster or monster with the best ability to win on its own."

"It's not that simple, Mr. Vega." called out Ian. "Do you have your monster selected, Terry?"

"Yes."

"Good, now put the rest of your Monster Cards in the graveyard."

Terry did as he said and Ian did too. They both slipped their now thiner decks back into their Duel Disks. Ian continued explaining the rules.

"Now that your monster is selected, I'll explain the part that makes this game fair. Play your monster, Terry!"

"I summon my monster! Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500)!"

A unison of shocked 'What!' came from the group watching behind Terry. The dark purple top half of it looked black in the confined light of the station. The body coiled around itself in front of Terry and it had it's head lowered, almost scowling at Ian. Very much like Terry was doing too. Knowledge and Jamie knew that Terry had this card and were surprised to see it but for Janet and Vega, they knew nothing about it. It was the first time the both of them had seen the card that was considered deadly rare.

"I thought you'd go for that. So I chose this monster! Penumbral Soldier Lady! (2100/1400)"

A blonde haired and particularly cute looking female warrior came out of the vertical card version of herself. She reminded one of the character Sophitia from Soul Caliber. But Terry knew that that lady was deadly for him the minute Ian had chosen her as his Combatant. _Penumbral Soldier Lady has the ability that when it battles with a Light-Type monster, her attack power goes up by 1000 points during the Damage Step. And Scorpio Dragon is a Light-Type monster too. This isn't good._

"Now that that part is taken care of, this is the most important part of the game."

Suddenly a large 6-sided dice appeared in the middle of the field between the two monsters.

"A dice?" questioned Jamie from the sidelines.

"Consider it an equalizer. Every turn, the player may choose to change one particular thing about their monster. Then you must roll the dice for it and see what happens. For instance, let's say that I wanted to change the attributes of both monsters. I would state so to you, Terry. Then I would roll the dice. If the dice lands on 2, 4, or 6, I would be allowed to change that as I wanted to, or as it's called, the target 'hit'. But if I rolled a 1, 3, or 5, I would 'miss' the roll and you would get the chance to change whatever effect I chose as you wish, or not at all. It's limited to not changing monster's names, raising or lowering attack and/or defense power by no more than 500 points, and makingeffects. Also when a player's turn ends as well, the changes that were done on that turn are negated and the monsters are returned to their normal states, minus whatever changes were done with dice rolls."

"One last thing I need to mention about battling with our Combatants. When attacked, if the attack power is higher than another, normally the weaker monster would be destroyed. But in this game, the monster stays. Neither monster can be destroyed as a result of battle. However, card effects that destroy monsters apply like normal."

"But if these are our only monsters, what happens if my monster is destroyed by a card effect?" asked Terry.

"Simple, it is returned to the field at the end of the turn that it was destroyed. No cost of Life Points or anything." explained Ian.

"Can our other monsters be Special Summoned from our graveyards?" asked Terry.

"Yes, but they do not have the same effects as your Combatants. If they are attacked and destroyed by battle, or a Spell/Trap/Monster effect, they return to the graveyard." Ian replied.

Terry considered this new game. _So I start the game with my Scorpio Dragon and he starts with his monster. Scorpio Dragon is a Normal Monster and has no effects like his Soldier Lady. Normally, it would be clear cut that his monster would win every battle but that's where the Spell and Trap Cards and the dice come in._

"Alright, I understand." said Terry.

"Excellent, now, I guess you still just need two more Puzzle Cards?"

Terry reached into a side pocket of the backpack he still had slung around his back. He fished around for a moment and then pulled out his 4 Puzzle Cards. Jamie, Knowledge and Vega all took notice that Terry just needed 2 more Puzzle Cards. But he didn't know time was running out faster than he might think.

"I'll wager two Puzzle Cards and this item that you want." said Ian.

_Item?_ Wondered Vega. _What is he talking about?_

"Ready?" asked Ian.

"Bring on the noise." replied Terry.

"Duel!" they called out together.

Both duelists pulled their starting five cards and looked over their hands. Meanwhile, Terry's supporters talked amongst themselves.

"This might be the last duel of Battle City here." said Jamie.

"You think he can win with this kind of game?" asked Janet, still only having heard of Terry's skills and never seeing them for herself.

"I wouldn't put it past him." Jamie said with a smile.

"Yeah, but you can't say he isn't at a disadvantage." said Knowledge thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" asked Jamie.

"This has got to be a game that Ian has played before. Not only does he have experience with this, he probably set up his deck for just this type of thing." Knowledge said. He had noticed that when both duelists had emptied their decks of Monster Cards, Ian's was still a lot larger that Terry's. More chances that his cards would yield something beneficial to him and destructive to Terry.

"Have some faith, Knowledge." Jamie said.

Knowledge scoffed. True, he was learning to do some things on faith alone but he couldn't ignore the fact that Terry was not in the best situation.

Vega sat silent, listening to Jamie and Knowledge's conversation. _I came this far just so I could get to play against him on the best stage we have, the stage of being the champion of Yu-Gi-Oh. Don't disappoint me. Show me everything you have, Terry, so I can use it to defeat you._

"Ill make the first move." said Ian. "Draw!"

Terry looked at him then at the dice on the field, wondering what effect he was going to try to change.

"Remember Terry, even numbers on the roll mean I can use the effect I choose, odds mean your choice. I choose to decrease each monster's levels by 2 stars."

Terry scrunched up his face, _odd change..._"Accepted." he said.

Ian then pointed at the dice on the side of the field, which started to float up off the ground.

"Dice Roll!" Ian yelled out. The dice jumped up vertically from where it was floating then started twisting and turning in the air. When it started floating down and hit the ground, it made a bounce vertical again, spinning slower still. When it came down this time, it didn't bounce but continued to spin. It slowed and slowed until it finally came to a stop. The top of that dice read 4.

"4! I won the roll." stated Ian. "But that roll was only just to let you know how it works, Terry. Now, ill play this Spell Card. Pot of Greed."

Terry nodded in his direction, really wondering on his turn how he might use his dice roll to his advantage. Ian brought his attention back to the present quickly by announcing his next move.

"I will set one reverse card, then Penumbral Soldier Lady (2100/1400), attack Scorpio Dragon! (2950/2500)"

The Soldier Lady didn't waste time after the attack was declared. She ran, sword and shield in hand right at the dragon. But as she ran she had her sword pointed at Terry's monster. As she got closer and closer, her sword started to glow white and got brighter and brighter. Both duelists knew it as Penumbral Soldier Lady's special effect kicking in. And on cue, an Attack Counter appeared on the field showing Ian's monster's attack power had gone up to (3100). She jumped, not very high and swung for Scorpio Dragon's head. The dragon tried to shield itself with its head but a loud 'clang' rang through the subway as the sword connected. Terry's monster let out a moan and Soldier Lady skipped backwards back to her side of the field. Terry's Life Counter dropped slightly from 4000 to 3850.

TERRY: 3850

IAN: 4000

"My turn! Draw!" said Terry, picking up his drawn card and then pointing to the dice on the field. "And I choose to roll to increase my monster's attack power by 500 points."

"Accepted." replied Ian.

"Dice Roll!" barked Terry. The dice jumped up, spinning and spinning around. As it came to the ground and kept spinning, it started slowing down and finally the top face of the dice came to a rest on 6.

"6! I hit it!" exclaimed Terry.

"Ah, ah, ah." said Ian. "Let's try that again. Trap Card! Dice Re-Roll!"

"Tch…" exhaled Terry. He saw the dice jump up in the air and start spinning. _Dice Re-Roll lets a player negate a dice roll and re-roll the dice. Perfect type of card for this type of game._

And as it slowed down, the top face of the dice read 3.

"3. You miss." said Ian. "And I choose to increase my monster's attack power by that 500 you wanted. Soldier Lady's attack power is now at 2600."

_And even though it's lower than my Scorpio Dragon's attack power now, it still will raise its attack power automatically when I attack._ Terry thought to himself.

"So what will you do now?" asked Ian.

"I'll set one reverse card, and end my turn." Terry said quickly. The only thing on his side of the field being his Scorpio Dragon and his reverse card. Then he slapped his head, thinking he had heard a voice in his head for a moment.

_Alright Terry, enough of the games._

There again he thought, no, was almost sure that someone was talking to him. He looked around behind him and his friends looked back wondering 'what's the problem?' Terry turned back toward the field and saw Ian looking at him and tapping his forehead.

_I don't plan to hold back just because some of your friends showed up. You should know that by now. And you should know what's about to happen..._

"If you involve them, I'm going to-" Terry started but stopped himself. He could feel all eyes on him from his friends behind him.

"What's he talking about?" whispered Janet to Knowledge.

"No…idea." Knowledge whispered back.

Vega continued to look on, silent.

Ian, however, didn't remain silent. Everyone could see the glow starting to form around the edges of the eyepatch he wore. And when he moved to take it off, Terry didn't protest this time. Everyone but him was shocked to see the Millennium Eye that hung in his face. Only Terry noticed the slight darkening of their area.

"Yami no Game." said Terry.

"Huh?" said Janet.

"Guys, keep away from here." Terry said.

_Hmm...why keep them away? Let's involve them in our little game._

That did it. Terry started to channel energy. The Eye of Annubis appeared and glowed brightly on his forehead. His open hand clenched into a tight fist and his eyes narrowed on Ian, who was smiling. Actually more like smirking at Terry.

"Terry, what's up?" asked Jamie.

Terry turned around to look at Jamie. Before he could even speak, all four of them, Janet, Knowledge, Jamie and Vega got a look at the Eye of Annubis on Terry's forehead. Shocked was a common emotion between those four. Stunned and shocked enough to be silent. And Terry hoped that's all he had to 'say' to let them know what was going on. At least between Jamie and Knowledge. He turned back to Ian and reminded him that it's his turn.

"Oh right, but before that I wanted to tell you that your monster is bleeding." Ian said, pointing to Scorpio Dragon.

"Bleeding?" Terry said, looking up to his monster. He looked at the head of the monster and saw that there was something off colored in its mane of hair behind its head. Following it, it let back up to the general area Terry thought he saw Penumbral Soldier Lady strike with her sword.

And then Terry felt a quick running of something down his own head.

_Yes. That's the idea of this game, Terry._

"I'm bleeding…" Terry said aloud, touching his hand to his scalp and feeling warm blood there.

_I wont involve your friends but they will not know what is happening. Yet._

"Yet?" said Terry aloud.

_Come on, man. Talk back to me through your Item. Channel some of that energy and focus on speaking to me through it. God, what a lame._

_You mean like this?_ Terry tried, just thinking to himself.

_Exactly. Quick study that mind. So let me explain how this game works Terry. Like you saw, you're feeling what your monster is feeling. If it bleeds, you bleed. If it breaks a bone, you feel like you broke a bone. Very simple._

_And if I lose the duel?_ asked Terry.

_Well, that's pretty obvious. Your monster loses the duel, you don't die, you just become a vegetable. By choice of the duelist that wins. No control of your body. Exactly like a monster with no duelist to command it. And as your Life Points get lower, so does your body start to stop responding._

"It's my move. Draw!" said Ian. He looked at his drawn card, Dragon Capture Jar. A trap card that would shift all dragon-type monsters to defense mode for as long as it is on the field. He looked up at Terry and thought to himself, _If that dragon becomes a threat, ill just shift it to defense and end it all there. But right now, its time to pump up my monster._

Ian pointed to the dice on the field. "I'll roll this turn. And I choose to change your Scorpio Dragon from attack mode to defense mode."

Terry wrinkled his brow. _Why would he want to do that? Soldier Lady can't trample..._

"Accepted!" Terry said.

"Dice Roll!" Ian called. Up went the dice spinning and spinning and then landing solidly on a 5.

"5. I missed." Ian said. Terry made no motion to capitalize on the miss so Ian continued his turn. "So then I'll play this card from my hand, Equip Spell Card, Sword of Dragon Soul." said Ian. Soldier Lady's sword glowed white and disappeared in a quick flash. And then was replaced with a long and heavy looking sword that looked more like a mace with spikes sitting on the sides of the sword where the edge sits. When it came fully into view, it started glowing a slight green color.

"Sword of Dragon Soul?" asked Jamie.

"An Equipment Spell Card." said Vega. "It can only be used by Warrior-Type monsters and it increases their attack power by 700 points. And when it attacks a Dragon-Type monster, it's destroyed at the end of the battle."

Ian gestured toward his monster. "Penumbral Soldier Lady's attack power is now at 2800. And she will attack Scorpio Dragon! (2950/2500)"

And right off the bat, Ian knew that something was wrong. As soon as he announced the attack, Scorpio Dragon started to open its mouth and start charging for a counterattack.

"What the?" Ian said.

"You just activated my Trap Card, Ian." said Terry.

"A Trap?" questioned Ian.

"Reveal Trap Card, Reverse Trap!"

"Allright, Terry!" called out Jamie.

When Terry's Trap Card flipped up on the field, it glowed for a moment before disappearing. Then both duelists saw the strange being that was on the face of the card appear on the field between the two attacking monsters. From what they could tell, it started chanting some kind of weird spell and then it's outstretched hands, each pointing at one of the monsters on the field, started to shake as it finished chanting its spell. Then little, nearly invisible rings floated from its hands toward the monsters.

"Reverse Trap reverses all the gains and losses in attack and defense power in the turn that it's activated."

"Oh no…" whined Ian.

"Ian, normally your monster's attack power is 2100. But it also gets 1000 points from its special effect and 700 from the effect of Sword of Dragon Soul. That totals up to 1700, which when I subtract from your monster's original attack power…" said Terry with a small smirk.

The creature that came from Terry's Trap Card, which was still discharging those rings, let out a funny little chuckle and then both monsters flashed white for a moment. Scorpio Dragon just returned to its original color but Penumbral Soldier Lady glowed white for a moment like Terry's monster did, but when the glow disappeared, the monster was now just black and white. She was still running and an afterimage, if you could call it that, stood behind her in full color. An attack counter appeared next to the still running black and white image which showed her attack power to now be only (400).

"Scorpio Dragon! Counterattack! Twilight Burst Stream!"

Terry's monster let its beam loose straight at the still charging Soldier Lady. As the beam quickly closed in, she turned her sword so that the flat part was facing toward Scorpio Dragon, acting like a shield. The beam connected perfectly and Terry could see the beam splitting around the sword, like a parting of the sea. Then the green aura that surrounded the sword before got a lot bigger and brighter and shot from the sword and through Scorpio Dragon's attack right back at it. When it connects, the dragon reared its head back and roared loudly, cutting off its attack.

But then both duelists felt the effects of the encounter with their monsters. Ian dropped to his knees immediately and didn't seem to be able to breathe for a minute. His eyes were wide open and his chest heaved, searching for oxygen. Ian brought a hand up to grab his chest and the other one dropped to brace himself from falling on the ground.

TERRY: 3850

IAN: 1450

Terry however saw his monster roar after getting hit with the Sword of Dragon Soul. Then it exploded in a white flash, the polygons of the dragon scattering from the light like scrapnel.Immediately, all the muscles in his body lost all their tension. He stood briefly then he too dropped down to his knees but then fell forward onto his chest. His eyes were trying to close and he did everything he could to keep them open. Like if he closed them, he wouldn't be able to open them ever again.

"Terry!" yelled Jamie.

Janet and Knowledge both let out a loud gasp.

Vega stood and was in disbelief at what just happened. There was a stone cold silence over the field. And Vega was the one to notice with the way he was facing Terry and the duel field that he had closed his eyes.

* * *

_As far as i know, no other fic uses this type of style of playing. Or i haven't read one as of yet so if there is one out there, my apologies for unknown plagerism. For a while, i had thought about using the Deck Master system but I wanted to try out a fresh idea instead of a nice but throughly used one. Maybe if I did a sequel or something, i might go for Deck Masters. We'll just have to see._

_Anyway, Terry has fallen. For good? Nah, it's too early to end the story yet! See how he manages to fight back against the Soldier Lady and Ian's tactics in the next chapter called The Better Tactician._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	18. The Better Tactician

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but i now have exclusive rights to the 'term' 'I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!' so i'll let all the other folks using my term off easy. 5.00 a pop sounds perfectly fair, heh heh heh..._

_Anyways peoples, this is it! The last duel of Battle City concludes here and now! And with that begins the start of the Battle City finals. But before we get to that point, let's see the end of this Tactic Yu-Gi-Oh! duel, eh?_

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 18: The Better Tactician

Ian brought himself up to one knee. He could still feel the sting, the ache in his chest from that last attack he went through. His knees were weak but he was able to will himself back to his feet, shakily. When he looked across the field though, he saw his opponent wasn't doing so well. Terry was still on the ground, motionless.

"What did you do to him?" yelled Jamie.

Ian didn't respond. Jamie then took action and started to move toward Terry. When he was close though, it felt like something was pushing him back. Sort of like a strong wind but there wasn't any wind.

"Don't interrupt." said Ian in a warning tone. Jamie looked up at him. Everyone could now see that Millennium Eye that sat there and was glowing. Jamie kept trying to move forward and toward Terry's body but the barrier that was blocking him was not letting up. Ian gritted his teeth and flung his barrier hard at Jamie. Jamie couldn't keep his footing and was actually lifted from his feet and he fell backwards on his elbows.

"Jamie!" said Knowledge.

Vega scoffed at the sight of Jamie on the ground. Jamie glanced at Vega and then looked at Terry, who still hadn't moved during that commotion. He got back to his feet and again dashed toward his friend.

Ian didn't hold back this time.

"Rrraagghh!" growled Ian, holding out one open face hand toward Jamie. When his Millennium Eye flashed gold, Jamie stopped in mid run and basically froze in place.

"I warned you once." was all that Ian said. He clenched his hand into a fist then opened it again with the palm facing Jamie again and he lifted it into the air. Jamie couldn't believe that he couldn't move, though he willed his body to do so, but then was scared to find himself starting to rise off the ground.

"Jamie!" Knowledge said, looking at his friend float slowly higher and higher.

"What the?" said Vega, eyes wide watching Jamie.

Janet said nothing, her hands covered her mouth in shock.

"Wha?" was all Jamie said.

Ian let out a little laugh, brought himself back to his feet and took the hand that was apparently controlling Jamie's movements and pointed it toward the wall toward Ian's right, which carried over a set of train tracks. When his hand stopped, Jamie's body took off with him screaming with it. Knowledge and Vega watched stunned silent and Janet had her head turned away.

And then he stopped with a sudden halt, hanging above the tracks.

"You….don't…..listen, huh?"

All eyes turned on Terry's body. He was still lying on his face, chest down but now his arm was extended toward Jamie's body and was shaking terribly.

"Don't…touch them." Terry finished. Terry pulled his hand back toward the platform they all were standing on and let Jamie down on the ground, rather roughly.

"Finally awake?" Ian said.

Terry opened his eyes again and struggled to get himself back up to a knee. When he got back on his feet, he was clutching his chest and his eyes were filling with tears.

"Terry…" Jamie said, barely audible.

"Don't worry about it man." Terry said over his shoulder to Jamie. "You'll return the favor sometime."

"Everyone thought you were dead." Ian said.

"Bull. My monster isn't here but I'm very well alive." He rubbed his chest. "I just fell on my Puzzle."

Silence fell. Then Terry guessed it was Knowledge that snickered first then that started Jamie up and they both started laughing gleefully. Terry cracked a smile too, because he really wasn't felling as good as he had advertised.

Vega, who was watching all the events with the Millennium Items just happen, was thinking to himself. _No one would believe me if I told them what I just saw. Not one damned person. But it was no trick, no illusion. They made that guy fly through the air, stop him in midair and brought him back to where he was. With the power of those Millennium Items. They're really real..._

"Now then," Ian said, "I believe it's still my move. So to end my turn, ill set three reverse cards."

Terry was worried now. He had just set three reverse cards just now and had one more on the field before, totaling four. Add to that the Penumbral Soldier Lady whose potential attack power could reach (3800) whenever it attacked.

"My turn! Draw!" Terry said, still thinking to himself. _Well, I really don't have a move at this point._ "For this turn, I choose to pass on the Dice Roll."

"Hmph." Ian said to acknowledge him.

"I'll switch my Scorpio Dragon to defense mode." Terry said.

"Got you!" Ian called. "Continuous Trap Card! Dragon Capture Jar!"

"What!"

One of Ian's face down cards flipped up vertically and then when it stopped glowing, a tan and human sized container appeared on the field to Ian's right. On the face of the jar, which was facing Terry's field, the face of a dragon was etched into the jar. When the eyes of the dragon on the jar lit up and glowed red, Terry's monster growled, rumbling the station. But it wasn't any use; Scorpio Dragon was forced to take a defense posture.

"I'm sure you know what Dragon Capture Jar does to Dragon-Type monsters, right?" asked Ian.

"Yeah." Terry said, rolling his eyes. _Now I'm sure he set me up knowing I'd choose Scorpio Dragon as my Combatant. Dragon Capture Jar forces Dragon-Type monsters to be in defense mode for as long as it's on the field. So I'm just going to have to bust him. I'll figure something out to get him, but for now, ill keep my defenses up and save Life Points._

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn there." said Terry.

"Heh, my turn! Draw!" said Ian. Then he pointed toward the dice on the field. "For this turn, ill choose to change Scorpio Dragon's type from Dragon to Warrior."

"What?" Terry said, raising an eyebrow.

Vega saw what Ian was doing. _By changing the type of Scorpio Dragon, he can make his own Dragon Capture Jar not affect it. But it's still in defense position..._

"Accepted!" said Terry.

"Dice Roll!" called Ian. And when it stopped rolling around, Ian had a smile cracked on his face. "6! I hit it, and your Scorpio Dragon is now a Warrior-Type which makes it susceptible to this card." Ian plucked a card from his hand and swiftly slided it into his Duel Disk.

"Spell Card! Stop Defense!"

"You…" growled Terry.

"Stop Defense lets me switch one monster on my opponent's field from defense position to attack position. And of course I choose your Scorpio Dragon. And now, the coup d'etat. Trap Card! Metalmorph activate!"

Ian's Trap Card that was behind his monster glowed for a moment then it turned into a white orb that floated over Soldier Lady and landed itself on her sword. Then that light spread to the entire length of the sword. When the light faded away, her sword was now an entirely metal weapon that had a beautiful mirror finish to it. A new Attack Counter appeared by her pointing out her attack power had jumped up 300 points more.

"Soldier Lady! Attack the Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) now!"

Terry grunted in disapproval. He couldn't defend his Life Points in this attack.

"So let's add this up." Ian said smugly as Soldier Lady jumped forward toward the main body of Scorpio Dragon. "Soldier Lady's original attack power is 2100. But when she battles with a Light-Type monster like Scorpio Dragon, its attack power goes up by 1000. Also, my Sword of Dragon Soul increases its attack power further by 700 points. And now with Metalmorph equipped to my monster, its attack power goes up 300 more points. Right now, Penumbral Soldier Lady's attack power is at 4100. Now when I announced the attack, her attack power went up again by a number equal to half the attack power of the monster im attacking due to Metalmorph. Half of Scorpio Dragon's attack power, 2950, is 1475 and that's added to my monsters attack power."

Ian's monster's Attack Counter then started rolling upwards landing on the number (5575).

"5575 attack points!" cried Terry.

"My God…" whispered Knowledge.

"No way!" howled Janet.

"Impressive…" Vega said.

Soldier Lady, which had stayed airborne through all of that, started spinning herself in the air and then cut a wide arc that seemed to cut through the air and create a sickle of energy that flew from the edge of her sword toward the body of Scorpio Dragon. Terry saw it flying toward his monster so he tightened the muscles in his chest to try to absorb some of the blow but it didn't work well. When it landed, Scorpio Dragon howled into the air for only a brief moment before it exploded in a flash of polygons. Terry's own reaction was instantaneous. The impact he felt he could only compare to the force of a bus crashing down on you from 1000 ft up. So great was the force that he was actually thrown from where he was standing and flung backwards several feet. At the feet of his friends. He felt it coming up and had to cough out the blood that had gotten into his throat. He clutched at his chest and groaned in a low voice.

Janet shrieked and covered her face with her hands and turned away from Terry's figure. All the guys could do nothing but stare at him except one.

"5575 attack points versus 2950 attack points. That's a difference of 2625 which is deducted from your Life Points, Terry." Vega said to Terry, looking down on his figure.

TERRY: 1225

IAN: 1450

Jamie was quick to grab one of the sides of Vega's jacket and yanked him toward him, yelling at him. "What's your problem? You can't see he's hurt now!"

Vega smirked at Jamie, "He got himself into this duel. As a duelist, it's his responsibility to see it through to the end. You can't help him now, unless you want to taste the wall. So let him fight his duel to the end." He nudged his head toward Ian.

"This isn't a duel! It's a beating!" cried Janet.

"And he accepted it!" Vega countered.

"I did…"

Everyone looked down at Terry, who had just spoken. You could see some blood that was still running on his cheek and he was raising himself so he was leaning backwards on his elbows and looking over his chest at Ian. No one spoke as Terry slowly worked to get back on his feet. Even Vega had to admit that he was taking a serious beating for this. But you had to praise that kind of determination.

_Look at the will that he has. I can't even imagine what kind of effect he's feeling right now. He's been tossed around the whole duel and he still won't give in. I can't wait until I get my chance to redeem myself and my honor. It will be a duel for history._

Terry, his chest heaving heavily, and his eyes narrowed, was standing back on the field and was staring at Ian. He held his open hand over his heart making sure it was still beating. Then he spoke to Ian.

"So i…I lost 2925…attack points on that attack…"

"Which takes you to 1225 Life Points." Ian finished. "Speaking of which, you can't take anymore hits like that. You're going to really, really hurt yourself. Maybe even cripple yourself. Surrender."

Terry didn't say anything.

"I'll take the other items and finish the job you started, Terry."

Terry remained quiet.

"And you're in no condition to play, not so much physically but mentally."

"I…didn't…ask for your…opinion." replied Terry. "I came to win that item of yours so I can…I can do what I set out to finish in this tournament. I'm going to get that girl and set everything right again."

"Whatever man." Ian laughed. "You haven't even seen what Re'-Sha can really do."

Terry thought for a moment before replying with a sure voice. "It doesn't matter. I'm ready. And I'll do anything to stop her, even if it meant my life."

Terry's friends couldn't believe they heard that. Death wasn't a thought that has rationally crossed their minds as the way this war between Terry and Re'-Sha might end.

"Hmm…" Ian said to himself. _Might have a point there. A strong will like that can be an advantage against a person like her. Albeit very small._

"Alright, ill set one reverse card and end my turn there." Ian concluded.

"My turn. Draw." Terry said. "I'll use this roll to change your Penumbral Soldier Lady to a Pyro-Type monster."

"Hmm…accepted." Ian said after a moment.

"Dice Roll!" Terry called.

As the dice jumped up and started spinning in the air, Vega was thinking to himself. _This guy is favoring the approach of juicing up his monster and destroying his opponent with single powerful attacks. But Terry has barely fought back against them; he's been keeping all his cards in his hand. Why? Even a couple reverse cards might make him think twice when thinking of attacking. If he gets in another shot on him, the game is over. Do or die, Terry. Literally._

As Vega was going through his thoughts, Terry's roll had missed and Ian had changed Terry's monster to a Pyro-Type in retaliation. Then Terry held a card from his hand.

"I'll play this Equipment Card, Dragonic Attack!" Terry said.

"Dragonic Attack?" questioned Ian.

"Yep, this card increases the attack power of its equipped monster by 500 points."

"You do realize that that card can only be equipped to my Penumbral Soldier Lady right Terry? Dragonic Attack can only be equipped to a Warrior-Type monster."

"Heh heh heh."

"What's so funny?" asked Ian.

"Everything you said I already knew, so do YOU know what im doing?"

"What tha-"

"I equip this card to Soldier Lady!" Terry said, cutting off Ian. Terry's card simply gave off a green flame that floated across the field and then surrounded Ian's monster.

"You're just making my monster more powerful!" Ian chuckled.

But even as he said it, Terry and Vega both had a knowing smirk on their faces. Ian's jaw dropped when his monster's attack power didn't go up, but went down from (3100) to (2900).

"What did you just do!" screamed Ian.

"Like you said, Dragonic Attack can only be equipped to Warrior-Type monsters and it does increase their attack power by 500, but that does a couple of things to your monster. First, that one card destroys your own Sword of Dragon Soul since when you play Dragonic Attack, your monster turns from a Warrior-Type to a Dragon-Type, destroying that card. Also, now that your monster is a Dragon-Type, your own Dragon Capture Jar forces your monster to defense mode!"

Just like Terry said, Soldier Lady's eyes changed from a normal human look to lizard like eyes that were red. And as soon as those eyes appeared, she dropped down to one knee with her shield out, her defensive stance.

"Tch…then i'll do this then! Quick Play Spell Card! Mystical Space Typhoon! Destroy Dragonic Attack!"

Terry's equipment card got hit by the whirlwind of air and shredded to pieces. Soldier Lady's eyes changed back to normal and the green flame that had surrounded her disappeared too.

_Hmm...I thought he would destroy his Dragon Capture Jar instead of my card. He might want to need to keep my monster in defense mode._ He looked down into his hand. _I can't stand to get hit again from his monster or it's all over. And I don't think I'm safe even with Scorpio Dragon in defense mode._

"I'll play this Spell Card, Pot of Greed. And ill draw two cards." Terry said. "And then I'll set four reverse cards to end my turn."

Vega, Knowledge, Janet and Jamie all watched interested. What was Terry going to try now?

"My turn! Draw!" Ian said, "And im going to end this duel right now with this one card that I've drawn!"

"What!" Terry cried.

"From my hand, ill play this Equipment Spell Card! Fairy Meteor Crush!"

Terry looked at his monster, still sitting in defense mode and calculated the damage quickly in his head. Too much! If he attacked, he'd almost lock in a win!

Clouds formed on the roof of the station and then those clouds parted for a clear view of night sky. Shooting stars passed over the sky but then they became more frequent and then one seemed to be coming closer and closer to Terry's position. Terry looked down to look at Soldier Lady but she had disappeared. When he looked up again, he could see something reflecting light off the top of the incoming rock. Terry couldn't believe it; the monster was actually riding the meteor heading for his monster!

"It's not over! Trap Card, Open! Ojama Trio!" called Terry. He saw the meteor getting closer and closer still, but now, with the activation of his Trap Card, the three Ojama Tokens were now riding that meteor with Ian's Soldier Lady.

"When you attack with those Ojama Tokens against my Scorpio Dragon," started Terry, "You will take severe damage from attacking my dragon with such weak monsters."

"I haven't called for them to attack!" countered Ian.

"Then let me! Trap Card, Open! Staunch Defender!"

"Terry!" Ian growled.

"Staunch Defender is activated when you attack with your monster. All your monsters on your field must attack one monster I select on my field. Ian, I only have 1 monster on my field, and both your Soldier Lady AND Tokens must attack!"

Ian growled toward Terry and Terry's friends watched anxiously, the station getting brighter and brighter with the proximity of the incoming meteor.

"Alright Terry!" Jamie exclaimed.

"No!" Knowledge yelled. "If that attack connects, both of them would have no more Life Points left!"

"You friend is right!" Ian called to Terry.

Just as the meteor was about to connect, with all the noise happening around him, with what could look like the end of the world coming to them to an outsider, but with a confident voice, Terry asked Ian, "Are you sure about that?"

Ian was about to just say 'What?' but stopped himself. The meteor connected with Terry's Scorpio Dragon on its back. The initial force pushed the majestic monster down to its belly on the ground but then a great cloud of dust kicked up around it and the duelists. Janet, Vega, Knowledge and Jamie covered their eyes to keep it away from them but tried to peer through the clouds to see what was happening. They could see nothing and they didn't hear anything as well. And this dust wasn't settling very quickly.

"You've still got Life Points, don't you?" everyone heard someone say. It sounded like Ian's voice. They all just focused in on listening.

"That's right." another voice replied, Terry's.

"How?"

"When you attacked with the Ojama Tokens and Penumbral Soldier Lady, I activated this Trap Card."

"A Trap Card?" Ian questioned.

"Trap Card. Hallowed Life Barrier."

"Ah, I know that card."

"By discarding 1 card from my hand, I can make all damage taken in this turn by my opponent 0."

"Heh heh, but you must be missing something."

"No, I don't think so. You've still got Life Points too don't you?" Terry said, exasperation could be heard in his voice.

By this time, some dust had settled enough for the spectators to be able to make out silhouettes of the two guys. One figure was still standing but the other was laying on the ground. Everyone guessed that figure to be Terry's.

"Didn't get the job done…" they heard Terry barely grumble.

"That was a brilliant combo but I was prepared for it. I activated two Trap Cards to save myself. The first, Normal Trap, Waboku."

"Waboku…" Terry groaned.

"Waboku lets me reduce the damage made by a monster against one of mine 0, which takes care of the Tokens. As far as their effects, I used the effect of this card. Counter Trap, Trap of Board Eraser."

"Of course." Terry moaned.

"Trap of Board Eraser lets me negate the damage done to my Life Points by effects."

TERRY: 1225

IAN: 1450

The dust was pretty much gone by now. Everyone could see the duelists now, and they each other. Terry, though saved through the effects of his Trap Cards from damage to his Life Points, was feeling the effects of his monster yet again being destroyed. This time, his back had suffered a crushing blow. He felt honestly crippled and when he moved his feet to stand on his knees, his muscles twitched and flexed uncontrollably. His legs were screaming to his brain to not stand up but mind over matter was winning barely. Terry looked like he got the bad end of a whupping. His chest was heaving for breath and his eyes were glazed red. He knew and everyone else knew she should not continue the duel, but Terry had made his point clear.

Ian, however, looked positively fine.

"Trap of Board Eraser has one more effect." Terry said, holding up his last card. "When it's activated, your opponent is forced to discard one card from his hand to the Graveyard."

Terry placed his last card in his Graveyard, managed to stand up on his feet but let his hands fall to his knees to hold himself up.

"I can't believe you're this weak." a voice called out behind him.

"What?" Terry exhaled, not turning toward the voice.

"I believed you were much stronger than this. This is plain pathetic." by this point, Terry figured it to be the other guy that tailed in with Knowledge and Jamie, Lamar Vega.

"I don't really need to hear this right now, Vega." Terry said.

"Tough." Vega said. "So when are you going to just toss the towel in or will your friends do it for you?"

"You're asking when I'm going to give up."

Vega didn't respond.

"I don't quit." Terry said simply.

"So play smarter and win." Vega said simply.

Ian interrupted them, "Well if you're done, I think ill just set this reverse card and end my turn."

Terry looked over the situation. His Scorpio Dragon had 'recovered' itself and it looked pretty war torn itself. But aside from that, he only had one reverse card on his field. Ian still had the Soldier Lady and his Metalmorph Trap Card and Fairy Meteor Crush Equipment Spell Card in play, Dragon Capture Jar and a new reverse card. Neither of them had taken damage in the last exchange but Terry was still losing 1225 Life Points to Ian's 1450 Life Points. And he had no cards in his hand. This next draw will be critical.

"My turn! Draw!" Terry looked at his card for a moment.

_Thanks Stone, you're a lifesaver._

"I'll play this Spell Card, Coins From Heaven! With this card, both players can draw cards until they have 6 cards in their hand." Terry smiled and drew 6 fresh cards while Ian drew 6 as well. The last exchange had depleted both of their hands to 0. Terry looked in his hand cards and could only come up with this play for right now.

"I'll set one reverse card and pass my turn." Terry said.

"Hmm…" Ian wondered aloud.

Janet, who was watching the duel again, was herself wondering why Terry just passed his turn at such a point in time. _Neither one of them have many Life Points left, this duel could be over in a couple of turns. For his friends' sake, I hope he knows what he's doing._

"I'm not falling for it, Terry. One card can make all the difference here. My turn. Draw." Ian pointed a finger at the dice that Terry didn't use last turn. "For this roll, I choose to change Scorpio Dragon to face down defense mode."

"Accepted!" Terry said.

"Dice Roll!" Ian got the dice rolling and hoped for a hit. Turning Terry's monster face down could prevent him from adjusting it, maybe making it stronger or something. And when the dice came down and stopped rolling and spinning, the dice had landed on a 2.

"2! It's a hit and your monster is switched to face down defense mode." Ian said happily. Terry had no choice but to watch his dragon get drawn back into its card and when it was done, the card turned itself over face down and lay on Terry's field. Now all Terry had was that reverse monster and two reverse cards.

"You're happy with yourself?" Terry asked dryly.

"Not until I'm sure that you've got no more outs." Ian swept his hand to his set card. "So I'll play this. Spell Card! Harpy Feather Duster!"

When Ian played that card and it came face up on the field, a strong force of wind littered with feathers came out of it and blew toward Terry's set cards.

"Got you! Trap Card Open! Gryphon Wing!" Terry called out, motioning to the older of the reverse cards he had on his field.

Terry's Trap Card came up on the field and as it did the winds and feathers that were crossing onto his field stopped and shifted its direction back toward Ian's field.

"Why you!" growled Ian.

"Gryphon Wing is a Trap Card made especially to counter Harpy's Feather Duster. When Harpy's Feather Duster is activated, Gryphon Wing destroys all your Spell and Trap Cards instead of my own!"

And as Terry finished speaking, all of Ian's cards were destroyed in the same instant. His Dragon Capture Jar, Fairy Meteor Crush, Metalmorph all were destroyed in a blink of an eye. As a result, Penumbral Soldier Lady's attack power dropped to its normal value of 2100.

_Grrrr...with the Fairy Meteor Crush gone and his monster in face down defense I cant damage his Life Points with that in defense mode and since that monster isn't face up, I cant use the special effect of Soldier Lady._

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Ian said with disgust.

"Heh. Now then, with no Dragon Capture Jar and Dice Effects…" Terry started and before he could even finish, the reverse monster card that was on his field started to shake for a moment before it turned itself vertical and upward. Scorpio Dragon re-emerged from the card and stood at the ready. Terry reached for his next card with some renewed energy.

"My turn! Draw!" Terry said, and then he pointed to his last reverse card. "I'm going to make my stand here. Scorpio Dragon will get to attack this turn!"

Ian had to smirk at that comment. "So how do you figure that to be true?"

"Because when I played Gryphon Wing, I found the card that I needed to do that."

"Huh?" went Ian. Terry's friends were wondering what he meant as well.

"My move. Spell Card, Open! Double Spell!" Terry said, showing him the card he set the turn before.

"What a coincidence…" Ian said, pointing to his own reverse card and activating it. "Spell Card, Double Spell!"

"They both have the same Spell Card." Janet said.

"This is weird…" Jamie said.

But Terry and Ian didn't pay them attention. Ian spoke first. "So I know you know the effect." He put a card from his hand into the Graveyard as did Terry.

"Yeah, by discarding 1 Spell Card from our hands, we can take and play a Spell Card from our opponents Graveyard's as our own."

"That's right." Ian said.

Both of them were silent after that, thinking of the right Spell Card to take from their Graveyards. Knowledge watched on with interest, curious as to how this might play out. Vega was watching too but was particularly interested in the remaining two reverse cards on Terry's field.

"Made your selection, Ian?" Terry called over.

"Yes. Are you ready?" Ian called back.

"Reveal my selection!" both of them said at the same time.

Both face up Double Spell cards that were on the field started to glow green and the picture and name of the card disappeared from both player's cards. Then their selections started to fade into view on the blank Spell Cards. Ian's selection came into view first. Ian had chosen Terry's Dragonic Attack. Terry's selection came into view next and he had chosen to steal Ian's Fairy Meteor Crush.

Ian spoke up first. "My selection is your Dragonic Attack, which will turn my monster into a Dragon-Type and increase its attack power by 500. Soldier Lady's attack power is now at (2600)."

"And my selection, Fairy Meteor Crush, allows me to damage your Life Points when I attack a defense position monster of yours with a higher attack power than that monster's defense power."

"But my monster isn't in defense position." Ian said.

Terry didn't seem to hear him because he called for an attack. "Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) attack Soldier Lady (2600/1400)! Twilight Burst Stream!"

"What!" Knowledge said, shaken up by this move.

"If he attacks, he'll lose Life Points!" Janet said.

Ian scowled. _He's up to something, he's not stupid._

"When you attack, my Soldier Lady's attack power will still go up by 1000 points, regardless of if I attack or you do!" Ian warned.

When Scorpio Dragon released its attack, that's when Terry made his next move.

"Now, Trap Card, Open! Skill Drain!"

"Skill Drain?" Ian wondered.

"You'll like this, Ian. Skill Drain is a special Trap Card that lets me negate all special effects that Effect Monsters have on the field. Permanently. And all it costs me is 1000 Life Points to activate."

Terry's Trap Card made the Soldier Lady, which looked to be prepping for a counterattack, start smoldering like she was on fire. Only this smoke was not black but it looked pure white. An Attack Counter showed Soldier Lady's attack power had dropped to 2600 and a Life Point Counter next to Terry showed his Life Points dropping to only 225 Life Points.

TERRY: 225

IAN: 1450

"The duel wont end off this single attack!" Ian said.

"Yes it will. And now that that's done, Trap Card, Open! Curse of Annubis!"

"Oh no!" Ian yelled.

"Curse of Annubis turns your Effect Monsters on the field to defense mode and changes their original defense points to 0 for this turn. But not only can you not change it's position for this turn, Fairy Meteor Crush's effect lets me attack your Life Points directly!"

Soldier Lady, which had just lost a lot of its attack force now had to change itself to defense position and its total defense power reached 0. When Scorpio Dragon's attack made contact with her shield, which she used to protect herself, it shattered and she was consumed in the beam. Terry glanced by the monster to Ian who was feeling the effects of that attack right now. He looked like he had the wind knocked from his body, His eyes were wide, his hands were holding his chest and his chest was heaving in gulps of air. Or maybe they were little mini yells. Terry took a small bit of delight in seeing Ian that way. When Scorpio Dragon cut off the beam, Soldier Lady was laying on the ground face up, unmoving, her shield, sword and a lot of her skin smoking. A Life Point Counter confirmed that Ian's Life Points had dropped to 0. Ian was on his hands and knees, his face facing the ground and his hands balled into fists. Like he couldn't believe he lost and was experiencing pain as well.

TERRY: 225

IAN: 0

Terry didn't say anything as he started walking across the field. When he reached Ian, he didn't speak but used his Puzzle to talk to him in his mind.

_I won._ Terry said to Ian.

_And I guess you want your Puzzle Cards?_

_And the Millennium Eye. Don't play dumb._

_Hmph, yeah I guess I shouldn't. By the way, Skill Drain was unnecessary. I would have lost if you activated Curse of Annubis by itself. Why did you do that?_

_I play every turn with all that I have in me. The whole duel, I didn't get to attack one time until the last turn. You tried to humiliate me through my favorite monster. I couldn't allow that. So when I attacked, I attacked with everything I had._

_But why did-_

_I not let you become a vegetable? The world is a pretty big place, Ian. We're both young. I'm not going to stop you from seeing it and all the cool stuff out there. Plus all the duelists you can meet. Besides, it would be an all around foolish thing to do. _

_You know, I think 'I' learned more out of this duel than you did, Terry._

Ian stood up. His face was red and flushed and his eye patch was back over his eye. But when Ian held out a fist to Terry, he dropped the Millennium Eye into it. Ian reached into his Duel Disk to take out two Puzzle Cards and put them into Terry's other hand. And there they stood staring for a moment before Ian smiled slightly, moved to step past Terry but then put a single finger on the Millennium Eye. Terry could hear him talking to him again.

_Some advice. Beating Re'-Sha will take all that will and courage you have. Good luck._

With that last bit, Ian walked behind Terry and toward the exit. Terry turned to watch him leave but as he was about to past Vega and company, Jamie stood in his way.

"Hi." Ian said.

"Hi." Jamie growled.

"Jamie, don't man." Knowledge said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Jamie shook the hand off and kept staring at Ian.

"Jamie, let it go man." Terry said from across the room. "He didn't do anything to you, or hurt you."

Jamie's eyes got wide, "You didn't see him trying to splatter me on the wall over there!"

"But didn't I ask you to not get involved in this duel?" Terry said.

"But I-" stammered Jamie. He let his head hang and stepped to the side and silently let Ian by but not without a look that would curdle milk.

"See you around, gramps." Ian said, referring to Jamie's age compared to the rest of them.

"Most definitely." Jamie replied, watching the kid leave out the stairway and into the evening. But a shout from Knowledge turned Jamie around just in time to see Terry wobble on his knees, fall on them and pass out.

* * *

TOURNAMENT TIME 7:15PM

Terry didn't think he was awake. He felt like he was in a very livid dream but he knew it was a dream. It was dark all around him, like a bottle of nothingness. He couldn't even see his own body; know what was up or down, any of those things. Completely disoriented. He saw a light that was shining from behind him and when he turned to look in it, he saw an image of a city, his city, in the middle of a fierce storm. Lightning cascaded down from the sky, rain and wind whipped water around the place. It looked like something from a hurricane.

The image then started to fade away and Terry was left in darkness again. But another light came up and when he focused in on this one, he could see his Scorpio Dragon. It roared and let loose an attack at something dark and twisted. Terry couldn't see what it was.

And that was it. Terry woke up.

* * *

"Terry!" Jamie said, slapping him in the face, trying to get him to come to.

"Jamie, stop that!" Janet said.

Jamie ignored her and kept calling Terry's name and slapping his face until Terry started flailing his arms wildly and he shot up with his eyes wide open. He looked like he was out of breath the way he was panting. He looked over at Jamie then at the rest of them that were hovering over him. He started fumbling around in his backpack for something, going crazy. He found his Puzzle Cards, took the four that he had already had plus the two he had just won and set them in his Duel Disk as fast as his hands would allow him. When he set them all and when told the thing his name, everyone was silent to see if he had made it in time. Time didn't want to move fast enough, everyone had their breath held.

When the word "CONGRATULATIONS" came up on the Life Point counter of Terry's Duel Disk, Jamie, Knowledge and Terry all let out a yell of excitement. Terry had just made it. Janet and Vega held in their praise for Terry though they were both pleased for Terry.

Vega thought to himself. _The stage is set, the rest of these guys don't even matter. Now that I know Terry Hairston is in the finals, no one is going to beat me. And no one will take the pleasure of defeating him from me. Not his friends, not this girl, not that other duelist, that honor will only be mine._

"Just under the gun, huh?" Knowledge said.

"Yeah...ow!" Terry yelped, trying to move his neck around to crack it.

"Hold on, man. I know you're hurting." Jamie said, helping him up to his feet and wrapping one of his arms around his shoulders to help.

"Yeah…by the way…" Terry took his other hand that wasn't being held up to slap Jamie across his face.

"Hey!" Jamie yelled.

"Shut up." Terry exhaled, but smiling.

"You know, we should have him looked at." Janet said.

"I can handle it." Terry said.

"No you should get checked up." Knowledge said.

"Leave him alone, he said he can handle it." Vega said, heading toward the stairs himself.

"Even you can see that he's busted up, Vega. Tell him he needs to get looked at." Jamie said.

Vega stopped, but didn't turn to face Terry and his friends. "Duelists ought to know when they're fit to play and when they're not."

_Is that your way of saying get help?_ Janet wondered.

"Plus I think he has a lot more intelligence than someone with a name that only stands for intelligence, an overly quiet nanny and a halfway flying nuisance."

"Vega!" Terry called out, taking his arm off Jamie's shoulder and limping toward him. Vega turned and waited.

"What is your problem with my friends? And with me?" Terry asked him.

The smirk Vega had on his face from talking about Terry's friends disappeared as quickly as when Terry asked about his problem with him. Vega turned serious.

"I want to see you humble before me." Vega said.

"You want what?" Terry asked, thinking he still wasn't serious.

"A rematch against you, so I can set it straight on who is the best duelist in –"

"Wait! I've never played against you, Vega!" Terry tried to explain.

"Think back, you've played against me. Injection Fairy Lily equipped with Buster Rancher for the game." Vega said, grimacing.

"Wait…that was you? I beat you?" Terry said, looking over Vega's face remembering him with no gold in his hair and it being a lot shorter. Terry didn't believe it, he had beaten the best in the world and he didn't even remember it?

"See, that look on your face tells me a lot there." Vega said, pointing. "It tells me that you don't hold a lot of value to that match, but it does have a lot of value to me. That duel was pivotal in my life."

Terry didn't say anything.

"I'm going to the final match of this tournament. When I see you there, I'll be able to beat you on a stage big enough for everyone to see who the best is truly."

"Is that what this is all about? Proving to people that you're the best? Then I have no desire to-" Terry tried to finish.

"You think you're above me because you have some mystical junk around your neck. Let me tell you something. No one will deny me what I'm going for. Not any other duelists, definitely not the ones here," he waved his arm in the direction of Jamie and co. "And most certainly not you, Terry Hairston."

Terry could absolutely feel Vega's passion about this. He wanted the pride of being the best and there was no one that would stand in his way of that goal. Not many might even dare to challenge him on that path but anyone that came up to challenge, he would topple them.

"So in order for me to get to that goal, Terry, I will have to go through you." Vega noted.

"But you need to know this…" Terry said. "Vega, I have no interest in dueling you to play to your pride. But there's someone that I have to fight that's probably in the finals of this very tournament. It's not you. It's someone different. So in order for me to get to MY goal, it looks like I'll have to go through you."

Vega turned and started walking up the stairs. When he got to the middle of them, he turned and looked back at Terry and scoffed at the sight of him. Then he turned and left the station.

* * *

Terry was in thought; _Lamar Vega has a score to settle with me...that's just scary. One minute I idolize and imitate his deck and now he wants to defeat me. I don't want to even risk playing against him but I might have to so I can get to Re-'Sha. I take that back. I can't second guess myself or my abilities. If he wants to stand in my way to Re'-Sha, ill have to beat him._

"Must be your gift to the world man, you make more enemies than friends." Knowledge said to Terry.

"Yeah…" Terry said, none too excited.

"Whats up?" Jamie asked.

"Nothing." Terry replied.

"You're thinking about Re'-Sha." Jamie stated.

"…Yeah" Terry said after a moment.

"You'll do fine." Jamie said. He almost wanted to say 'you'll be fine' but there was definitely no way to guarantee that. With that, the four of them started walking up and out of the station, Terry with his backpack on and his new Millennium Eye stored away in it.

"By the way, I didn't get to be introduced to the lady." Terry said, speaking to Janet.

"Oh, I'm Janet. Janet Rush." she said quickly.

"Terry Hairston." he said, extending his hand. Janet shook it.

"So all four of us are heading for the finals. But with different goals though." Terry said to no one in particular. Four different duelists heading for the finals of Battle City.

* * *

_There it is. The end. Pfft, yeah right. Viewing of the story is down from usual amounts but I fully intend to finish it. Hate unfinished stories, don't you?_

_Tactic Yu-Gi-Oh. It's an idea i can partly blame on two people. Rishid (Odeon) and Spencer Rodgers. You all know Rishid (Odeon) and his Trap Deck. When i first saw it, I thought it was a cool idea to use for a deck type, especially since it's a deck that really could work in todays game. Spencer Rodgers you guys probably don't know. He's an old friend of mine that i pulled into Yu-Gi-Oh some time ago. For the longest time, i'd toss him around in the game even though i lost touch with it when i moved. He usually played straight forward Type Decks, like a Fiend Deck, Spellcaster Deck, and so on. So the last time i went on vacation and went to see him, i though he was using the same thing. Oh boy, i got whipped withmy modified Blue-Eyes Deck and some random deck i was testing. He had gotten much stronger and smarter than i remembered, and used that Jowgen combo on me as well as another one i can't remember as well, since i only got beat by that one once. We had a deal that a Obelisk the Tormentor God Card, that i had bought, was the symbol between all my friends as to who was the best duelist at that point. I had held Obelisk ever since I bought it and made that agreement. I had to let it go and i swore to get back at him._

_Anyway, that deck was almost all Spell and Trap reliant. It got me thinking of playing a duel in that fashion and i think i was able to pull it off pretty well. _

_So now the end of Battle City has come. 9 hours in story terms like i promised and 8 chapters, not counting the duel between Terry and Scale. Not bad, now the real stuff begins. The duels turn up a notch, rivalries are exposed and desired opponents are expressed. Will Knowledge get his chance to duel against Lamar Vega? Who does Janet want to face in the final matches? Who will take on the World Champion in Lamar Vega anyways? What about Jamie? And where is Re'-Sha? And who will Terry take on? All those plus the addition of a 'new' character to the mix. All in the next chapter called Intentions. _

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	19. Intentions

_Disclaimer: Meh, it isn't mines. Yawn Sorry, was a little tired of saying it chapter in and chapter out._

_Small bit of filler for you guys today. But like i had said, once the finals start, its almost a nonstop duel thing. So watch out for the next 4-5 chapters._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 19: Intentions

"Unbelievable." it was the only word Terry could use to describe it. He along with Janet, Knowledge and Jamie were standing alone at the edge of a big parking lot that belonged to a mall in the rich kid area that they were in. But the parking lot had been completely transformed.

The thing that stood out the most was the 'ring' that had been constructed seemingly for the duelists. A black mat with a white rectangular ring around it and two smaller squares on the ends of the ring, where the duelists were to stand. Thin white boxes surrounded the ring, the holographic machines that created the images of monsters and what not during duels. Off to the side was a big split billboard, one half had a big screen TV attached to it and the other was filled with tournament brackets. Hanging from there were the names of everyone there, including the only missing duelist, this Kwandao Kawamura. There was a constructed platform that was all decorated with Upperdeck and other sponsor logos around it but up on the top, he noticed a single mic stand with some chairs up behind it. A few large white tents scattered near the 'Skybox' were noticed too. Terry spotted Lamar Vega sitting down in the one of the rows of chairs, eyes closed and his legs crossed. It looked as if he had beaten them here by a little while. He saw Vega open his eyes and look right at the group then only at Terry. Terry didn't make a move toward Vega; he didn't want to provoke more arguments or insults.

At that point, everyone sort of scattered off in their own directions. Janet took a seat in the chairs but left plenty of space between her and Vega, Knowledge and Jamie headed off for the board but Terry decided to just hang around the ring, get to know the little bit of gravel and stone that he might have to defend the world on.

* * *

Janet sat down away from Vega but spoke to him regardless. "What is your problem with us?"

Vega didn't answer so she kept on speaking. "I don't know what your real beef is with Terry but whenever you have something to say, it's always derogatory. I know you wouldn't like to be talked to like that."

Vega opened his eyes and looked at her, blankly staring into her. Then he glanced down at his jacketed arm and rolled it up to look at his arm. "Woman, don't tell me about talking down and derogatory."

Janet saw what he meant. "I'm sorry. But that doesn't explain why you constantly talk about everyone."

"Because I know that in this game…" he looked over at Terry. "There's only one person that can touch my skills."

"You do know that Catravious intends to beat you then."

"The little tick can try." Vega chuckled.

"You know, I heard how you lost to Terry. You got overconfident. Think you might be doing the same thing with Catravious?"

Vega gave Janet that same blank glare he gave her earlier. Like he was stating something he'd said millions of times. "No, because I know for a fact that I'm better than Catravious."

* * *

"So what's on your mind, Jamie?" Knowledge asked, looking up at the names on the bracket board.

"Who's the best." Jamie said.

"Come again?" Knowledge asked.

"Im thinking about who's the best here. Because I have this feeling I'm not."

"How do you figure that? You won your six Puzzle Cards, you beat a bunch of duelists to get where you are."

Jamie shook his head. "No, I didn't beat anyone. I was 'given' these Puzzle Cards."

"Huh?" Knowledge asked, turning to look at him.

"You know that girl, Re'-Sha, that Terry's chasing after? She gave them to me while I was still in the hospital."

"What!"

"She gave them to me and said she did so because she wanted to see Terry suffer. And I don't get that."

"I think I do." Knowledge said quietly. "She wants all of his friends here so she can do something to us. Maybe something dangerous or…lethal. But it doesn't matter. Im going to get my revenge on her for hurting you."

"Knowledge, don't do it."

"Don't even try to talk me out of it." Knowledge said firmly.

Jamie exhaled. _Knowledge wants to be the master of his own destiny, nothing I say is going to stop him._

"But lemme say this, don't worry about who's the best here right now. That's what we all came here to find out." Knowledge said. "Just because you were given Puzzle Cards doesn't change the fact that you are a good duelist. Trust me; your chances are just as good as mine."

"I guess, thanks for saying so. So if I play you I guess that means you'll throw your match to keep me in?" Jamie said.

Knowledge broke out laughing, "Aw, in your dreams!"

* * *

_So this is it, the stage where Future History is going to be saved or destroyed. And my Millennium Puzzle and I are in the center of it. Heh, it was actually only two days ago that this whole thing started._

Terry removed his deck from his Duel Disk and palmed it for a moment. _I know that Re'-Sha will be here. Probably not with the rest of us by winning Puzzle Cards but she'll show up. I just hope that im ready for this. _

_Each one of the Guardians I faced taught me something. Scale, he taught me to not be overconfident. Something that I should never be and to never believe the game is over until the last card is played. Stone, for all of his constant badgering and insults, showed me how key pressure is. Pressure alone can win or lose you a duel. And Ian, I think his 'lesson' was a lot more subtle. Though he taught me about what these Millennium Items can really do, he showed me how dangerous and even foolish it can be to rely on one strategy, be it one monster or one tactic._

_The 40 cards in a duelist's deck are precious. Each card is important and each card is a small part of their strategy. For my duty, my strategy has to be better than everyone else's._

_Twtt..twwtttt_

_Here we go..._

Terry turned, knowing she was coming. She was walking straight for him. She was close enough for him to already see her silver eyes and as she got closer, Terry didn't break his lock from them.

And she followed suit. She walked up to the boy and stood inches from him, having to look up slightly at him. The two of them had nothing nice to say or even think of the other so they didn't disappoint.

"You look pathetic." Re'-Sha said.

"And you look like a slut." Terry said, remarking her outfit, the same one she visited Jamie with earlier. "This place is only for duelists that won 6 Puzzle Cards."

With a coy grin, Re'-Sha reached into her breast pocket and showed Terry her Puzzle Cards. "Satisfied?"

"Who did you beat for those?" Terry said.

Re'-Sha smiled, flashing her teeth and looked at her Puzzle Cards. "You know, some people say 'It's a terrible thing to watch a child die.' But for me, it means nothing like these pieces of plastic."

Terry's eyes got wide and his mouth hung open with shock.

"Oh, I love it! You're pissed aren't you? I tell you what, when I get to kill you, die like that. Die with that exact expression on your face. I'll remember you in my memory forever with that expression."

Terry's buttons had been pushed just the right way, he took his deck that he was close to crushing and slipped it gingerly back into his Duel Disk. But his anger couldn't be controlled and he felt dark energy beginning to build in him.

"Come on! We don't gotta wait for the finals or for everyone else!" Terry said.

"That makes you mad that innocent's died against someone you're fighting to stop? Poor little Richie, Travis, Larry, Grant, Max and oh, dear me, what was that last boy's name?"

"Rrraagggh!" Terry screamed. The Eye of Annubis appeared on his forehead and he thrust out his hand, palm out, to knock her back. Re'-Sha acted fast and an Eye of Annubis appeared on her forehead as well. But she only crossed her arms and stood her ground. Terry knew the wave had connected with her body but it didn't move her one bit.

"Oh yes, I remember now. Alex." she said with a sneer. "Come on, I've had these powers for years, yours…" she explained as she extended her own arm and Terry felt an amazing crushing force coming down on his entire arm. The skin started to flush red and no matter how he tried, he couldn't move his arm or use his own power to lessen the force.

"Yours is simply pathetic, like anything you do." Re'-Sha said, laughing and walking past Terry toward the center of the duel ring. Terry's yelling, however, had alerted everyone else that Re'-Sha had arrived. Including Knowledge, who made a beeline for her from the billboard.

"Hey, is everything alright?" a man dressed casually asked. He wore a light tan sweater vest with a neatly pressed all white suit shirt underneath along with white khakis and black shoes. Blonde haired that was spiked and with the tips dyed red. About the only thing about the guy that made you think he wasn't from money like almost anyone else in the area. He had come from inside the mall and walked in on Re'-Sha laughing and Knowledge walking toward her with some cruel intentions.

"Everything's alright." Jamie said, still standing by the billboard. He wanted to make a move to stop Knowledge when he spotted Re'-Sha here, but her being there just froze him. Janet and Vega, who were still sitting in the seats, watched as well.

"I had just gone for a soda and then you guys show up, I assume you're all the finalists?"

Right at that moment, Terry's arm was able to move again and the pressure on it vanished. He walked toward the gentleman.

"Well, that was pretty quick! I'll introduce myself, I am Upperdeck's appointed director of the tournament, Travis Sinclair. And right now, I need your names to 'check' you in."

"Check us in?" asked Jamie.

"Yeah, each duelist that won 6 Puzzle Cards and registered spoke their name to their Duel Disk. Just say your name back into this." He held up a little machine that looked like a voice recorder. "And we will go from there. Let's start with you." He motioned toward Jamie.

"Jamie Cantou." He said.

"Fine." said Sinclair and handed Jamie a plastic keycard, much like ones for modern hotel doors.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I'll explain later, now you."

"Catravious Collins."

"OK…" Sinclair said, and handed him a card as well. Janet and Vega had walked over toward Sinclair after he took Jamie's voice.

"Janet Rush."

"OK…" and passed her her card.

"Lamar Vega."

"Welcome, champ." Sinclair said, noting Vega's prowess and handing him his card.

"Terry Hairston."

"Ah, I heard about you." Sinclair said, and looked briefly at Vega before he gave him his card.

"Kwandao Kawamura." Re'-Sha said.

"Liar!" called out Terry. Sinclair looked at him and then at Re'-Sha, or rather Kwandao, as she called herself.

"Well, she seems to be in order. The voice is a match, the lady may stay. " Sinclair said.

"That girl's name is Re'-Sha Shiyth, not Kwandao Kawamura." Terry explained to Sinclair. "She weaseled her way here, she isn't who she says she is."

Re'-Sha called Sinclair over to her and whispered something into her ear, then she reached into a pocket and handed something to him. He looked at it then at Terry and gave whatever it was back to Re'-Sha.

"To end this, she just showed me her ID and that proves her identity."

"You're not listening to me!" Terry exclaimed

"You're not listening to me." Sinclair said sternly and slowly. Terry took a step back in surprise. "Now, she's shown me that her name is Kwandao Kawamura. That's final. She will be allowed to stay."

Terry grunted in exasperation. He couldn't tell the guy who she really was. A murderer, a thief and a dangerous threat. He just glared at Re'-Sha and she returned the look with a smug smile on her face. The more he looked at her, the more he couldn't stand the look of the demon.

"Now that everyone has been checked in, we will now determine each duelist's opponent for the first level of the finals. I would like for each duelist to hand me their rank Puzzle Card that they have."

"Rank?" asked Knowledge.

"When the tournament started, you should have noticed that each of you had a Puzzle Card that corresponded with your rank in the tournament. I would like that card, please."

All of the duelists there handed Sinclair their cards as he asked and he went up to the billboard and reached behind it to pull from the back a small machine that had six slots in it. Sinclair put each of their Puzzle Cards into it and stepped away from the machine as it slit itself back into place.

"The machine I put each of your Puzzle Cards into is a simple randomizer. It will select each of your opponents for you by random."

"So why ask for the starting Puzzle Card then?" asked Terry.

"Think of the starting Puzzle Card as your dueling ID. It contains all your information encoded into that card." Sinclair explained.

As he activated the machine, six blank windows came up on the big screen representing each individual Puzzle Card that was in the randomizer. A small yellow arrow came on the screen underneath the card and it started moving from card to card, picking up speed as time went by. Knowledge looked up at the screen, thinking about who he'd like to face, as were the others. _If I got Terry or Jamie or even Janet again, I'd be happy. But I don't care now. Re'-Sha might fool the old man but I'm not fooled. I want her._

Jamie was thinking to himself as well. _Terry, you ought to know that my one purpose to get to this point was to play against you. To have a fair bout and play to the best of my ability, and then beat you. But the situation has changed and none to the better. I can see who your enemy is. So I'll take on the next best person in your place._ He turned and looked at the same person that he was thinking of in his head. Lamar Vega.

Janet pondered in her head, _Who's the one person that I don't want to face right now? I'd hate to draw Vega at this point, I know all about how good he is. Jamie and Catravious don't worry me, even if Catravious beat me. Terry might have his own targets in mind but if I drew him, I think it would be tough to defeat him but not impossible. The other girl doesn't seem like that much of a threat. I just hope I don't draw Vega..._

_My target?_ Re'-Sha thought to herself. _I have just one target. To regain the power that was taken from me so long ago. And in order to do that, I must have all seven Millennium Items. So the only person that matters is Terry._

_Hmph, I don't care who I get, all that matters is that I take down Terry Hairston in the end. Then I can honestly say that I am the best duelist in the world again. He cant lose until he faces me again. I control my own destiny and mine will collide with his in this tournament. I will have my duel and I will win._

_If I could have it any other way,_ Terry thought to himself, _I would just take on my friends and even if I lost it wouldn't be a big deal. But im looking around and everyone here has a strong will to win. Its not just me that feels like they have to win. I wish it really didn't have to be like this but this is it. Life or death, light vs. dark or however you want to slate it. Bottom line is that I have to beat everyone, destroy their hopes and dreams for this tournament, in order to save them. God, this is going to be terrible to watch..._

"Ah, we have our first selection!" Sinclair said, rousing everyone from his or her thoughts to watch the big screen. The arrow was slowing down and it settled to a stop on the Puzzle Card to the far right. The screen faded away the other five cards, blew that one up big on the screen and then a small picture came up along with some personal information.

"Our first contender is the No. 434 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City Tournament, Kwandao Kawamura!"

All eyes turned to Re'-Sha as her fake name was called out and she didn't return the glare. She continued to look and hope that Terry's name would be called out to duel against her. Only Knowledge and Terry hoped it was them that were called.

The screen faded away Re'-Sha's information to return to the selection screen with only five Puzzle Cards left. The arrow didn't take as long to make the second selection and as the picture and info came up, Knowledge couldn't help but groan woefully.

"Our second condender, who will face Kwandao Kawamura, is the No. 11 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City Tournament, Janet Rush!"

"Oh my God…" Terry whispered to himself.

_This can't be happening._ Knowledge thought to himself.

Janet looked over at Re'-Sha, who looked at her and smiled. Janet smiled back and thought to herself _This isn't going to be easy but I can beat this girl._ Unfortunately for her, her friends Knowledge, Jamie and Terry didn't inform her of who Re'-Sha was or what she's capable of. And Terry had just learned from his latest conversation that she was crueler than he could have imagined.

Re'-Sha, however, wasn't exactly thrilled either about playing with this girl but was willing to manage. _Terry is my target and I will kill him, but I think I can maybe make him a little more agitated by having my own 'fun' with another of his friends. Heh heh heh...maybe this wont be so bad. _

"Now, we will select our next match, which will in turn, decide the last match of this level of the finals."

"Wait, why aren't we starting the match now?" asked Vega.

"Because it isn't scheduled to start for a little while longer."

"What? Scheduled?" asked Terry.

"Allow me to explain. When Upperdeck received word that the six finalists had been identified, they dispatched me to meet with them and arrange the matches. Meanwhile, they locked up some time on TV to air these matches live. These duels aren't scheduled to start for another half an hour."

_Showing us off and upping the pressure to perform in front of your fellow duelists._Thought Vega to himelf.

The machine the selected the duelists to compete against each other settled on its next duelist.

"Our next duelist is…the No. 21 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City Tournament, Catravious Collins!"

Knowledge's eyes lit up at the mention of his name. Now that Re'-Sha had been selected to play against Janet, he had to win against whatever opponent was selected for him. He wanted to believe in his heart of hearts that Janet could beat her but he couldn't convince himself of that. Because even if she knew what she was, which she would after this selection process was over regardless, he couldn't put her as the winner.

But who would his opponent be? He didn't have to wait long for that answer.

"The other contender, who will face Catravious Collins is…" A small smile crept across Sinclair's face. "Is the No. 2 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City Tournament, Lamar Vega!"

No one reacted to this announcement. And a big reason to that was that it was no secret neither of these two liked each other. Neither would hesitate to voice distaste with the other. So both Vega and Knowledge didn't mind the pairing.

"Which means by default, our No. 26 ranked duelist Jamie Cantou will face the No. 1 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City Tournament, Terry Hairston!"

Terry and Jamie turned to face each other with a smile on their faces. A rematch of the very match that Terry beat Jamie in for the prop Millennium Puzzle which seemed so long ago.

"Now that that is over, and everyone knows who will be dueling who, you have a little time to yourselves until the start of the finals." Sinclair said, turning to the brackets and arranging the names. Knowledge made a beeline for Janet and pulled her aside quickly.

* * *

"Hey!" Janet yelped, trying to slap Knowledge's hand away. She managed to wrestle her arm away from him and Knowledge stopped.

"OK, I need to tell you something about that…" he waved his finger in Re'-Sha's direction. "That girl calling herself Kwandao."

"OK?" Janet said, waiting for a reply.

"Alright, that's not who she it. Her name is Re'-Sha Shiyth, she's the spirit of a girl that lived a long time ago, in the times of the Egyptians."

"Stop it." Janet said, becoming irritated and tried to walk past Knowledge. But he sidestepped and got back in her way.

"No, I'm being serious!" Knowledge whined.

"Yeah, right." Janet hooted. She glanced Terry walking their way.

"Knowledge is right." Terry said. "That girl isn't anything but trouble."

"OK, I know that YOU." She said, pointing at Terry then down to his Millennium Puzzle. "have something special about you. But there's nothing special about her."

Terry just nodded his head like he understood her. Knowledge, who had been silent letting Terry speak, saw the Eye of Annubis appear on Terry's forehead and then he turned to look at Re'-Sha. He looked at Re'-Sha and after a few moments, she turned slowly to look at Terry.

"Hold my hand." Terry said, extending a hand he had hidden behind him toward Janet, out of Re'-Sha's line of sight.

"What?" she said skeptically.

"Just do it." he said with more force in his tone. As she did it, she felt very strange. A shiver ran through her hand that passed over her whole body. And that's when she heard the voices.

_...matter what you tell her, she can't beat me and she will lose against me. _

_Why don't you just keep this fight between you and me, Re'-Sha?_

_Aw, because it wouldn't be any fun like that. I can look at you right now; you've learned a couple of things, gotten just a bit stronger. But you're still pathetic. _

_We'll see._

_What's worse, you've gotten the idea that you are ready to sacrifice your life if you have to. But you know what, Terry? There's nothing more boring than killing someone that's ready to die. Now someone like the girl? I'll enjoy seeing her struggle, seeing the frustration, the anger, all those emotions just play uncontrollably before her life is snuffed out._

Janet let go of Terry's hand right then and felt another shiver pass her body. Maybe from being 'disconnected' from Terry but there was fear in that too. And when she glanced at Re'-Sha, she knew that that 'demon' could smell the fear she was sweating.

"What happened?" Knowledge demanded. Janet just shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes and she dashed off toward the chairs, and sat and covered her face with her hands.

"Terry." Knowledge said.

Terry didn't say anything. He didn't even move.

"Terry." He said again, more insistent.

"Basically, she said she might try to kill Janet."

"That bitch!" Knowledge hollered, about to jump past Terry toward her. But Terry wrapped his arms around him and held him back.

"Knowledge, chill!" Terry yelled, restraining his friend.

* * *

Re'-Sha laughed to herself, watching Terry holding one of his friends back from her. But she stopped laughing to herself because she noticed something about Terry's friend. She had seen him before. And her eyes lit up with the spark of surprise.

_So THAT's the vision of the person that is part of my Future History. I think they called him 'Knowledge.' He he he...and its obvious he's got a sore spot for the girl. I couldn't tell what part he would play in my future but I think I'll have some fun with his girl however. Oh, this tournament is turning into such fun!_

* * *

Janet could hear her name being called and she looked up from her hand and saw Jamie kneeling in front of her.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

Janet stopped sobbing long enough to nod to the affirmative, and looked away from him. She couldn't stop the tears from falling and her hands were wet from wiping them away.

"Look, I understand how you're feeling." He started.

"You don't understand how I'm feeling." Janet said, her voice quivering.

"I do. Re'-Sha already threatened my life."

"Huh?" she said, looking at him with tears still in her eyes, like from Jamie's point of view, they were underwater.

"I didn't win these Puzzle Cards to get here. She gave them to me so she could have me here to see Terry suffer. And I thought what I think you're thinking of right now, of dropping out, running."

Janet sniffled and gave a slight nod.

"Well, when I thought about it, it made some sense to be honest. Protect my life and all. But then I thought about it this way. Why run? Why not stand up and fight against that woman? Because if she intended to hurt me, I'm going to hurt her twice as hard!"

"But I…I just can't do it. I don't think I can…do that." Janet moaned.

"Janet, you have to." Jamie said.

"Why? Who or what says I have to go in there and duel against her!" Janet yelled at him, slapping her hands down on her thighs.

Jamie was silent so Janet let her head hang and droop and she could be heard sniffling a few times. When she felt a hand raising up her left arm, she looked up in surprise and saw Jamie's stern face looking at her.

"You're a duelist. That's 'what' says you have to fight. 'Who' are in the forty cards you selected as your deck." Jamie said, shaking the arm he had held which had her Duel Disk attached to it. He then turned and walked away.

* * *

"I want to talk to you." Terry said, quickly walking toward Vega.

"So talk." Vega said, looking at him.

"Im going to the finals for a totally different reason than you. And I want someone there besides you."

"Like Kwandao?" Vega asked.

Terry nodded. "She isn't who she says she is. But getting back to my point, I wanted to ask you how you felt about dueling against Knowledge."

Vega's face twisted into a question mark.

"I wanted to ask just how serious you're taking this match."

"For what?" he asked.

"Because if you don't take it seriously, if you go in thinking you're going to win just because you're not dueling me, you will lose." Terry said calmly.

Vega was anything but calm in his response. "You're full of it! There's no way on God's green Earth that he can beat me!"

"Just listen for a moment, please. I know you've seen Knowledge play and you know he's much better than what you give him credit for. But I know him better than you, you keep lighting a fire under him and he will lash out at you."

"Feh, he doesn't scare me." Vega said, turning away from Terry.

"Didn't say that, Vega." Terry said, continuing to talk. "But if you lose to him, be it mental, a game mistake, or whatever, you will never live it down or regain your 'respect'"

"Why are you telling me this?" Vega said, irritation in his voice but inquisitive.

Terry started walking away. He didn't want to give Vega the answer. He smiled to himself, the answer was more for Knowledge's benefit.

* * *

_Well I think I've given this body enough of a ride, I'll rest before the fun begins. Maybe see if anything happens with me on the sidelines. _Thought Re'-Sha to herself. She pulled on a black strap around her neck that was hanging something from her neck. She fished it and placed her Millennium Ring face forward. Then it glowed very softly and she closed her eyes.

When they were opened again, Re'-Sha wasn't there anymore.

"Where am I?" the girl that formerly inhabited the spirit of Re'-Sha asked. "What has it gotten me into now?" she sobbed.

* * *

_To clarify for anyone maybe familiar with Japanese language, the reason you might not recognize a name like "Kwandao" in Japanese culture is that that name is not Japanese. As i recall, it's Korean. I named Re'-Sha's hosts name after a girl that i knew from Korea that worked with me for a while. Her whole name was Kwandao Witchiwonchardon (i know i messed up the last name) and i thought about that being the characters name but i shortened it to just Kawamura. Here's to you, Jin! (her nickname)_

_Well in the next chapter, the semifinals will get underway! Right off the bat, Janet has to take on a pretty strong deck in Re'-Sha's Exodia Deck. But is the Last Warrior enough to defeat Exodia? Who's going to win, the Last Warrior Deck of Janets or the Exodia Deck of Re'-Shas? The duel gets underway in a few days in the chapter called Battle City Semifinals: Janet vs. Re'-Sha. _

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_

* * *


	20. Re'Sha vs Janet: Sealing Exodia

_Disclaimer: When you own just about every anime that has been ported from Japan to the US, is something like a disclaimer really necessary? That's the thought of the day!_

_The old 20. Chapter 20. This was one of my favorite duels to write in my fiction. Mainly because both of these girls kick-ass but also because of the playing styles they have. Both are somewhat similar with Exodia being a end-all deck type and Last Warrior being a lockdown and almost game killer in itself. But their personalities are so dissimilar, which made me wonder about an appropriate duel for them. _

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 20: Re'-Sha vs. Janet

Janet had walked over to a corner of the Duel Ring wishing to be alone and everyone left her that way, either involved in their own thoughts or involved in strategizing for their duels. Janet was in the former group. So when she heard someone walking towards her, she asked them to leave.

"Could you please help me?"

Janet was confused by this and turned to look and gasped as she looked at Re'-Sha's face.

"Keep away from me…" Janet whispered, fresh tears filling her eyes again.

"No, no, I'm not who you think I am!" she said.

"Liar, Catravious told me who you are!" Janet accused.

"Who?"

"Just leave me alone!" she turned to run but her arm was grabbed and she froze.

"No, listen to me. I don't know how long I can stay. My name is Kwandao Kawamura and-" but before she could finish, Terry's hand came and knocked 'Kwandao's' hand away from Janet's arm. Janet turned and saw Terry who had come to her aid and then looked at her assailant.

"Could you both listen to me? I don't have much time!" she exclaimed.

"Why are you talking to her, Re'-Sha?" Terry sternly demanded, looking down on the girl.

And then she had had enough. Her face even shook from the frustration she was feeling, along with her arms. So she reached down for her Millennium Ring and took one of the talons from it and before Terry could react, she touched it to his Millennium Puzzle.

The result was incredible. Terry's mind was blanketed with all the powerful emotions that he just felt ripping though him. Anger, frustration, passion, cruelty, pain, malice, rage, aggravation. Terry couldn't take it anymore and he began to feel like blacking out before it was all over and he felt extremely disoriented and dizzy. Like going from a spinning and whirling roller coaster to just standing still. He caught his hands on his knees and felt for his bearings.

"Like I tried to tell you, I'm not the person you're angry with!" Kwandao said aloud.

"What…what was…" Terry couldn't finish.

"That was the spirit in this Millennium Ring. It retreated into it now and I don't know how long it will stay there so please listen to me. My name is Kwandao Kawamura, and I came to warn you, this thing inside this Millennium Ring is more dangerous than you give it credit for."

"Yeah, I know exactly how ruthless 'it' is." Terry said, with sarcasm.

"OK, you're not convinced but you're listening. That's all I ask." Kwandao said. "Im begging you, either of you, to please defeat this thing inside this Millennium Ring!"

"You want what?" asked Janet.

"I can't take anymore of this spirit ruling my life, I can see everything it does and I can't live with this anymore." Kwandao started sobbing softly and held Janet's hands in hers. "Please, stop it from hurting anyone else…"

Janet looked at the girl's eyes through her tears, a slight gray color, and saw sincerity. Somehow, someway, this wasn't the girl that Catravious and Terry wanted to fight.

"OK, I believe you, Kwandao." Janet said slowly, patting her head. Terry just looked at her dumbfounded.

"Just like that, you believe her?" Terry shouted.

Janet nodded.

"Oh my God, this woman killed just to get here today and because she cops an all innocent plea, you're going to believe her!"

Janet looked dead at Terry, "Yes, I am."

"You're a fool!" Terry shot.

"You're letting your anger cloud your judgment!" Janet shot back. "Look at her, that doesn't look anything like the killer you're talking about!" Janet turned to Kwandao who had just curled into Janet's arms.

"OK, I do believe you, but if that thing is so bad why can't you just take it off and drop it somewhere?" Janet asked.

Kwandao shook her head, "I would, but…I just can't."

"And why can't you? Go ahead and say it." Terry said, now interested in the conversation again.

"OK, well if you can't drop it, how did you get it in the first place?" Janet asked.

_Good question._ Terry thought to himself.

Kwandao reached down to her Millennium Ring, "It was…is a relic of my family. I can't surrender it except in a duel."

"Relic of your family?" Janet asked.

"Yes, it's been a part of my family…" she turned to look at Terry. "Since it was created."

Terry felt like she was telling him something but he couldn't pick up on it. It was in the back of his mind somewhere. Just then, a speaker broke out over all of them.

"All duelists, please report to the Skybox."

And just then Terry heard it. _Teee...tweeet_. He looked back at Kwandao, who was holding her head in her hands and her face was contorted in pain. Terry saw her Millennium Ring starting to glow softly.

"Please!" Kwandao screeched, "Don't give….in to it!" and then she threw her head back to the sky. Janet shook her arms and called her name. When she lowered her head and looked right at Janet, she could see immediately that the person she was just talking to was gone. Those grey eyes were replaced by cold, unforgiving silver ones.

"Im right here…" Re'-Sha said in a whisper, looking at Janet with an mischievous smile on her face. Janet let go of her and jumped back in fright. "And I think we need to head for that Skybox so I can…" and with that, Re'-Sha ran a finger across her throat while looking at Janet. Then she turned to walk over to the Skybox where Knowledge, Vega and Jamie were already waiting. Terry walked toward the Skybox too, keeping his distance from Re'-Sha.

Janet took her time, thinking about what she had just heard. _There's a person in there that needs my help. I didn't realize that. In a way, she has to be the most scared out of anyone. How does it feel to watch acts like Re'-Sha committed and just only be able to watch? That must be terrible. So...so I have to be strong for her. For Kwandao. I can't be afraid anymore for Kwandao._

* * *

"You six duelists are the best that this city has to offer! You're the very best!" Sinclair was saying, not only to the duelists but to the cameras pointing to him and the crowd that had filled the seats and the area around the duel ring. 

"But this tournament can't have six champions. There can only be one champion and you've gathered here to decide who is that champion. Who is the best of the best, who is the finest duelist in the city! Please, let me introduce you and our TV audience to our duelists in our first match!"

"Ranked No. 434 in the tournament and proving that rank can be nothing but a calculated number is Kwandao Kawamura!"

Re'-Sha stepped forward from the line the rest of them had formed and took a place on one side of the Duel Ring. She was oblivious to the fanfare for her, no one she cared about was out there, her only focus was in the ring.

"And her opponent is our other female contender, ranked No. 11 in our tournament, Janet Rush!"

Janet heard the noise the people made for her and even heard a small chant of 'Prime' from the crowd, her clan's name. But like Re'-Sha before her, she blocked them all out. Losing her focus was something she couldn't do at this point.

Sinclair calmed down the crowd for a moment so he could speak clearly again.

"Janet, are you ready?" Sinclair asked.

Janet nodded, not removing her eyes from Re'-Sha.

"Kwandao, are you ready?" Sinclair asked.

Re'-Sha cracked a smile and nodded too.

"Duel!" Sinclair announced and began their duel.

Re'-Sha waved her hand toward Janet, motioning for her to take the first move. Whatever Janet had in her deck, Re'-Sha was certain that she couldn't stop her...

"So nice of you…" Janet said, drawing her first card. "I'll summon Zombyra the Dark (2100/500) in attack mode! Then ill set one reverse card and end my turn there."

By this time, the remaining duelists had moved up to the Skybox to watch the duel from there. They couldn't hear their talking all that much but it was a great view of both the duelists. Knowledge looked at Zombyra remembering Janet's favorite fusion to use with that monster. Last Warrior could be pretty useful for her against Re'-Sha. He just hoped she could play it soon enough.

Terry, watching the duel noticed Zombyra but was focusing on Re'-Sha. He didn't tell everyone what Re'-Sha used for her deck, so no one knew that she played with Exodia and Exodia Necross.

Terry thought to himself. _I should have told you, but even if it is against someone like Re'-Sha, it's not a duelists place to give away an opponents deck. But I'm sure that you will figure it out. Go for it, Janet. Give it everything you have!_

"Ah, it's my turn now. Draw." Re'-Sha said. "First, ill…" and then she froze.

"What?" Janet asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you the rules."

"The rules of what?" Janet asked slowly.

"Our Game of Darkness….our little Game of Darkness." Re'-Sha said with a wide toothy grin on her face. Janet's eyes got wide and she caught the flash of Re'-Sha's Millennium Ring. Then the whole area around them got dark but strangely it only lasted for a brief moment. Then everything looked normal.

"This Game of Darkness is going to be special." Re'-Sha said. "This game will determine your fate."

"Just say it." Janet said, wanting to know what was happing.

"The Game of Darkness has only one outcome. The loser will become either good or evil, depending on how they are now. If you are evil, you will become good and if you are good, then you become evil. Pretty simple, ne?"

Janet smiled and let out a low chuckle. "Then when I beat you, you'll be done hurting people forever."

_Or rather when I beat you...it'll be interesting to see just what kind of monster you will turn into. Ooh, I'm getting goose bumps from the excitement._

"It was my move. And I'll –"

"Activate Trap!" Janet called. "Arsenal Robber!"

"Hmm?" Re'-Sha hummed.

"Arsenal Robber is a Trap Card that forces my opponent to select one Equipment Spell Card from their deck and discard it to the graveyard." Janet said.

Re'-Sha picked up her deck and looked through it for a suitable card. She selected and showed Janet her Axe of Despair and sent it to the graveyard.

"I'll set this reverse monster and end my turn." Re'-Sha said.

Up in the Skybox, Terry silently praised Janet's move with Arsenal Robber. He looked over at Knowledge, who was standing next to him and he was watching the duel with a stern scowl on his face.

"What's up, Knowledge?" Terry asked.

Knowledge didn't answer.

"My turn. Draw." Janet said. "I'll summon this! Makyura the Destructor (1600/1400) in attack mode!"

Janet paused a moment. _That reverse monster Re'-Sha has obviously has a special effect. But I won't let her intimidate me._

"Zombyra (2100/500), attack her reverse monster!" Janet called. Zombyra jumped toward Re'-Sha's field and unloaded a fierce, earth-shaking punch on the top of the card. It immediately shattered in a flash and then the shards reformed themselves into a monster Janet didn't recognize, it looked like a big tomato.

"You destroyed my Mystic Tomato (1400/1100), which activated it special effect. When Mystic Tomato is destroyed and sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, I can Special Summon a Dark-Type monster with an attack power of 1500 or less to the field in attack position."

Terry bristled. _Is she going to summon a piece of Exodia?_

The Mystic Tomato shattered itself as Zombyra jumped backwards back to its own field as Re'-Sha's selected monster started to form. Janet recognized this monster, Giant Germ (1000/100).

"I Special Summon my Giant Germ in attack mode." Re'-Sha stated.

Janet took in the new situation. _Well, from the last attack, Zombyra's effect comes into play. Every time I destroy a monster with it, its attack power drops by 200 points so it's at 1900 now. It also can't attack a player directly._

"Makyura (1600/1400), attack her Giant Germ (1000/100)!" Makyura dashed toward Re'-Sha's monster, claws extended and arms crossed and cut through the monster with an 'X' slashing motion. It broke the germ into tiny little germs and brought Re'-Sha's Life Points down to 3400.

RE'-SHA: 3400

JANET: 4000

"Giant Germ's effect starts now!" Re'-Sha said pointing to the air where all the germs were combining with each other to form two more Giant Germs on her field.

"When it's destroyed," Janet started, "You can Special Summon up to 2 more Giant Germs to the field in attack mode."

"That's right and when one is destroyed, like just now, you take 500 points of damage."

Janet looked at her Life Point Counter and watched it tick down to 3500.

RE'-SHA: 3400

JANET: 3500

_What's she hiding?_ Janet wondered. "I'll end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" Re'-Sha said looking at her drawn card, the Left Leg of the Forbidden One.

"I'll play Sangan (1000/600) in attack mode! And I'll use it to attack your Zombyra!"

"What?" Janet called out in shock. Everyone in the Skybox had the same feeling, except Terry.

"Zombyra (1900/500), Counterattack!"

The little three eyed monster lunged at Zombyra with its claws extended but it wasn't a match for Zombyra on any level. It timed it's swing perfectly and gave Sangan a sweet hook that sent it spinning backwards toward Re'-Sha. The moment it touched the ground it exploded into polygons. Re'-Sha was all smiles though, even though her Life Points were reduced to 2500.

RE'-SHA: 2500

JANET: 3500

"Well, that takes me to 2500 Life Points, your Zombyra to 1700 attack points, and I can use Sangan's special effect to search my deck for a monster with an attack power of 1500 or less and add it to my hand. And ill choose…"

Re'-Sha hammed it up a little pretending to search for something when she was only after one thing really. She didn't announce her card selection but rather showed Janet what she had chosen, Exodia the Forbidden one (1000/1000).

* * *

Up in the Skybox, everyone paid careful attention to the card Re'-Sha had just shown. Exodia was a deck type that you needed to remember. 

"I don't believe it, she runs Exodia?" Jamie said to no one in particular.

"Janet…" Knowledge said to himself. Terry looked at his friend wondering what he was thinking.

"Terry, did she use Exodia on you before?" asked Jamie. Knowledge looked up from the duel.

"Yeah…yeah she did." Terry said slowly. And he had barely gotten that sentence out before Knowledge had balled his fists into Terry's shirt and yanked him inches away from his face.

"What! And you didn't tell us or her!" Knowledge hissed.

"Nobody asked me about it until now!"

"Bullshit! You don't send a friend to a slaughter without information that might help them out. You KNOW you should have told us!"

Terry's eyes went wide and he knocked his friend's hands away from his shirt and grabbed a fistful of Knowledge's in retaliation. "Slaughter! When did you lose all hope that she would win?"

Knowledge blinked a few times, letting the words hit him. Terry still held onto him but turned to look at the duel. "I don't care who Re'-Sha thinks she is or what she's done. She probably is the vilest person I'll ever know. But when she straps that Duel Disk to her arm, she's not invincible. I beat her. Janet defeated a lot of quality opponents, including you."

Terry looked back at Knowledge. "I have hope in her that she'll win. You saw how she looked after we told her what Re'-Sha really was, but look at her now. She's not scared; she's fighting with all her skill! She has her own faith and hope that she can win!"

Terry shoved and let go of Knowledge's shirt knocking him back a step. "Where's yours!"

* * *

Janet, from the corner of her eye, caught Terry and Knowledge in a scuffle. _Boys will be boys..._she thought to herself. 

She focused in on the duel again. Re'-Sha had just pulled a piece of Exodia from her deck. Now she knew what that witch was up to. Janet noted the number of cards in Re'-Sha's hand right now, which was 6. She knew now that Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000) was in her hand and she would have to assume that she had at the very least one more piece in her hand.

"Now, I'll switch my 2 Giant Germs to defense position. And ill set one reverse card and end my turn there." Re'-Sha said.

"My turn! Draw!" Janet said. _The race is on now. I have to hurry and deliver as much damage to her Life Points as I can in each turn. Those Giant Germs are a bother but I can't wait any longer._

"For this turn, ill summon this! The Earth – Hex Sealed Fusion! 1000/1600" Janet called. Her monster appeared on the field as a sizeable round sphere of earth and rock that pulsed like it was alive.

"Zombyra (1700/500) and Earth (1000/1600), destroy her defensive line of Giant Germs! (1000/100)" Janet said, pointing to the two monsters on the field. Zombyra and Earth started glowing with a purple and yellow aura respectively. Zombyra shot out it's hand, open faced toward a germ at the same moment Earth let loose its own attack. Both of the beams hit and circled the germs and in the light from them, they fizzled out and disappeared into nothing. Re'-Sha stood behind the smoldering embers of her monsters with that grin still on her face.

"Giant Germ was destroyed but you still take 500 points of damage for each one you destroyed in your attack." Re'-Sha stated.

RE'-SHA: 2500

JANET: 2500

"I know. I'll lose 1000 Life Points." Janet said, and saw her Life Point Counter had dropped to 2500. "But you're going to lose more! Makyura, (1600/1400) attack her directly!"

Janet's monster raced for Re'-Sha with one clawed hand reared back ready to strike. Re'-Sha swept her arm toward her reverse card.

"Set Card, Open! Negate Attack!" Re'-Sha said. Her Trap Card flipped up and as Makyura was about to strike, it's claw hit an invisible barrier that protected Re'-Sha.

"Tch…" Janet mumbled.

"Negate Attack is a Trap Card I can activate when you attack. It negates the attack by your monster and it also ends your Battle Phase. Heh, so sorry about that." Re'-Sha said, flipping a hand through her hair.

"The Battle Phase is over but my turn isn't. Trust me, you're still going to lose something!"

"What?" Re'-Sha asked, her interest raised.

"The Earth – Hex Sealed Fusion has a unique effect. It can be used in place of any Fusion-Material Monster as long as the other one is the right one. But by sacrificing that Fusion-Material Monster and this monster, I can Special Summon 1 Earth-Type Fusion Monster WITHOUT the use of Polymerization!"

"What!" Re'-Sha yelled.

From up in the Skybox, Janet heard Terry call out 'Go for it!' and she smiled to herself. Vega, who was very silent up to this point, started to wonder if he misjudged how good Janet actually was. Jamie pumped his fist and just yelled, cheering Janet on. Knowledge, still a little stung from what Terry told him, couldn't bring himself to cheer her on. _Janet just can't win against Re'-Sha._

Janet watched as her Earth and Zombyra turned to face each other and then Earth just got wider and wider until it engulfed Zombyra and it looked like a clay monster. When it was totally wrapped around it, it started glowing yellow and then a light shot straight from it toward the sky. Inside the light, everyone could see the shape of the earth covered Zombyra slowly mold into the shape of its fusion form. When it was complete, The Last Warrior From Another Planet stepped forward from the light and onto Janet's field.

"The Last Warrior From Another Planet! (2350/2300)" Janet announced with a flourish. "And its special effect works immediately. When Last Warrior is Special Summoned, all monsters on my side of the field are destroyed immediately. Therefore, Makyura is gone."

Just as she said it, Makyura was destroyed and exploded into hundreds of polygons, except for a portion of its headdress that remained behind and it was floating in the air and glowing red ominously.

"What are you planning?" asked Re'-Sha.

"Makyura's special effect is going to make it clear. In the turn that Makyura is sent to the Graveyard, I can use Trap Cards from my hand like Spell Cards." Janet said, holding a card from her hand. "And, ill play this Trap Card! Disturbance Strategy!"

"Disturbance Strategy?" Re'-Sha asked.

"Right. Disturbance Strategy is a Trap Card that forces my opponent to shuffle all their cards in their hand back into their decks. Then after shuffling, they draw the same number of cards they had previously." Janet said, a confident but defiant look on her face. "A one sided Card Destruction!"

"Allright, Janet!" Jamie screamed.

"Great thinking!" Terry yelled.

Janet pointed to Re'-Sha. "So, shuffle your hand back into your deck!"

Re'-Sha growled to herself but she complied. She looked her hand over and paid close attention to three cards in particular, her Left Leg and Left Arm of the Forbidden One and Exodia the Forbidden One. All three of them have to go back to the deck and she wasn't happy at all.

Re'-Sha looked at Janet the whole time she was shuffling her cards. Her eyes said all Janet needed to know.

"Im going to enjoy seeing you as a wicked mistress…" Re'-Sha said.

"Save your breath." Janet said.

Re'-Sha set her deck back into her Duel Disk and drew 5 cards per Disturbance Strategy's effect.

"That ends my turn." Janet said.

"My turn! Draw!" Re'-Sha said, ripping a card from the top of her deck. She still was fuming about losing her three Exodia pieces because when she redrew, she had no pieces in her hand at all.

* * *

Terry was up in the Skybox watching with interest. He was looking at Re'-Sha and from the way she was looking and the frustration on her face, he could tell that Janet had gotten to her. He had no idea how many Exodia cards Janet had just cost her but was sure she had less than before. From his experience, Exodia is her only weapon and without it he would bet Re'-Sha was in trouble. He looked toward Knowledge hoping to see him excited too but he was still in his funk. 

_How can he believe so strongly that she's going to lose? I just don't get it. There's the risk but she is in excellent position right now._

He felt a nudge to his side and turned to see Jamie just shaking his head no.

"He'll have to learn this one on his own. Knowledge still plays too much with the numbers and facts. He's learning to take chances but this is beyond him right now, Terry."

Terry looked down at the ground. "So what do you think, Jamie?"

"About if she can win? I agree with Knowledge but only partly."

Terry looked up with a questioning look.

"Re'-Sha can beat Janet. Flat out. But Janet is playing with a lot of heart and putting everything she has out on the field. You can't put stats on that, and I feel that she can beat her."

"You and I feel it, but why can't he?" Terry asked.

"It's just his nature. I just feel for him when this is over." He looked back down on the duel. "If he's wrong and Janet does win, how bad would that be to know you doubted a friend right to the last play of the game? But if she lost and he was right all along? I don't know how he could live with that on his mind."

* * *

Vega had been listening to Terry and Jamie talk back and forth, wondering himself if Janet could beat Kwandao. He knew just how badly Exodia could hurt you if you're on the receiving end of it. It usually doesn't hit an opponent that Exodia is what they're playing against until it's too late to do something about it. 5 cards and its all over with. 

But Exodia isn't without its drawbacks. It's slow. And most duels can be decided in 3-5 turns. Not nearly enough time for the average deck. Not only is it slow, it is something you can't build a backup strategy into if it fails. If you lose Exodia, you normally lose the duel.

But as he looked at Re'-Sha, who had just finished examining her new hand, she didn't seem to believe that she was done at all.

He looked down at his own deck, still fitted into his Duel Disk. He didn't care if he had to play against Exodia, but if he had to he would beat it. He would destroy Exodia to get to his own goals.

Re'-Sha picked up three cards from her hand and eyed Janet's Last Warrior. _When Last Warrior is on the field, neither player can Normal Summon or Special Summon any monster to the field. _

"I'll set one reverse monster face down." Re'-Sha said. "And set two cards face down, too and end it there."

Re'-Sha smiled and narrowed her eyes. _Come into my trap, my dear._

"My turn! Draw!" Janet said. Now she was eyeing Re'-Sha's monster, which probably had some nasty flip effect. But she had no card in her hand that could destroy it. She would have liked to have her Lightning Vortex Spell Card in her hand, even in she couldn't destroy the monster with it.

"Allright, Last Warrior (2350/2300), attack her reverse monster! (?)"

"Got you! Set Card, Open! Book of Moon!"

"What?" Janet said.

Janet watched Re'-Sha's Spell Card flip up and fire a pale gray beam at her attacking monster.

"Book of Moon switches my opponent's monster from whatever position it's in currently to face down defense mode." Re'-Sha explained. Last Warrior tried to shield its eyes from the light but it slowly started to fade away at the same time a face down defense monster started to appear on Janet's field.

"But it not over! At that moment, I'll activate this too! Set Card, Open! Nobleman of Crossout!"

When this Spell Card came up on the field, a blonde haired knight in silver armor and a medieval sword sheathed at its hip walked out of it and continued walking toward the face down monster of Janet's. When he reached it, he unsheathed his sword calmly. Then in a flash, he brought his sword over his head and swung it down on the card, slicing it cleanly in half.

"Tch…" Janet growled. "Nobleman of Crossout destroys one face down monster and removes it from the game."

"That's right, so your Last Warrior is gone from you!" Re'-Sha said for Janet. She started laughing wildly.

"What's so funny?" Janet asked, furious and not amused.

"Oh, that you're completely naked now." Re'-Sha said.

"Get real. I lost a monster but not the duel and definitely not my fight! So let me show you something. My turn, Draw! Activate Continuous Spell! Call of the Mummy! This Continuous Spell Card says that if there isn't a monster on my field, then once per turn, I can Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster from my hand."

Janet pulled one card from her hand. "And I'll play this monster. Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) in defense mode!"

"Pyramid Turtle!" Knowledge said to himself

"Zombie Cards?" Terry said aloud too.

"My Last Warrior is gone, but we've only begun to fight. Get ready, Re'-Sha!" Janet said with a small grin on her face.

* * *

_Zombie cards huh? Something unexpected but that's the way i try to write. _

_To some, the Game of Darkness that i wrote up might seem pretty lame. Actually it might sound broken, but I thought it was the best game for a characters like Janet and Re'-Sha to play in. Re'-Sha as a goody-two shoes? Janet as a vile mistress? That's what I was thinking, plus the way the rest of the cast would react to such a change from either character. Especially Knowledge._

_I've been working on drawing some of my characters and the places that they visit in my story. Right now, i've only drawn Vega and Knowledge but once i get more, i might get them up somewhere and link them to the story._

_Well, Janet is pushing Re'-Sha a lot harder than she might have expected. I guess women from ANY generation, Egyptian or current, won't be pushovers when they chose not to be. In the next chapter, the conclusion of the duel and as i said, it has a big effect on Terry as well as Knowledge. _

_Then the grudge match begins. Knowledge takes on Vega. All in the next chapter._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	21. The Corruption of Janet Rush

_Disclaimer: Meh, go check through one of my other chapters for it! Sucker!_

_Chapter 21. Well i didnt give the name of this chapter out when i was describing it last time, but that was intentional. The name is pretty much a spoiler. This chapter is pretty short but i wanted to keep it like this so i could focus on this last part of the duel in more detail._

_And by the way, a little woo-hoo! for reaching the 100,000 word barrier with my story!_

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 21: The Corruption of Janet Rush

Terry had an odd thought as he saw the Zombie monster of Janet's come to the field. He realized that he didn't know just what kind of Game of Darkness was going on. He, like the rest of them, had seen the dark cloud come over them field for only a moment and then disappear. Like one was about to start but then Re'-Sha thought better of it. Terry wasn't convinced that she didn't start one. He couldn't connect with Re'-Sha's mind, he couldn't figure out why. But without that method, he was at a loss. He recalled all the ways he had used his Millennium Puzzle and he thought about the time he was looking for Ian and used his Millennium Puzzle to search for him. He wondered if he could 'adapt' that method here.

He took a quick look around to see if anyone was looking at him. He saw no one looking and so he started channeling energy. His Millennium Puzzle, which thankfully was hanging below the railings and was obscured, started glowing. He was trying not to tap someone's mind but actually Re'-Sha's Millennium Ring. Maybe he could find out more about the Game of Darkness that way.

When he tried to get into the Ring, he found it surprisingly easy to do. His eyes were looking into space to anyone else but to him he was seeing inside of the Ring. And he saw nothing, nothing but black. He started to wonder how he could find out what he wanted to know about the Game of Darkness and just as soon as he finished that thought, he saw an image not before his eyes, but IN his eyes. Like he was in the body of Re'-Sha. It was the moment when Re'-Sha told Janet that the loser would become the opposite of themselves now. Terry's heart jumped at that and that shook his focus enough that it broke his connection to the Ring. Terry shook his head, now back to the here and now.

"Oh no…" he said to himself. And just repeated it over and over.

* * *

Janet had just ended her turn by playing Call of the Mummy to Special Summon her Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) to the field in defense mode. Re'-Sha didn't care, to her, it was a matter of time for her to win.

"My turn! Draw!" Re'-Sha said. Janet noticed when she went to look at the card she had drawn, her eyes had gotten noticeably wider. Whatever she had drawn had been to her liking. She placed that card in her hand and selected another to show Janet.

"Heh heh…From my hand, I'll play this card. Pot of Greed, so I'll draw two more cards." Re'-Sha said, cockiness in her voice.

Janet wondered what she might have drawn that would get her so happy. She didn't have time to ponder it however as Re'-Sha moved to flip up her reverse monster.

"I'll flip summon my reverse monster, Emissary of the Afterlife (1600/600) and then ill also summon my Vors Raider (1900/900) in attack mode."

Re'-Sha stood partially hidden behind her two newly summoned monsters. "Emissary of the Afterlife (1600/600), attack her Pyramid Turtle! (1200/1400)"

Emissary didn't even move, it just hovered where it was floating and it's eyes flashed red suddenly. Pyramid Turtle looked right into those eyes and like a man looking at Medusa, the monster became white throughout its body and a wind blew over the field and literally blew Pyramid Turtle away, all the dust circling the field.

"Now that you're open, Vors Raider (1900/900) attack her directly!"

Vors Raider took its bladed weapon and lined up the shot for Janet and let the blade fly, spinning toward her extremely quickly. The blade was nearly upon her when it stopped suddenly and 'ricocheted' back to Vors Raider's hand.

"What the?" Re'-Sha said.

"Heh, you forgot about one effect of my Pyramid Turtle, Re'-Sha. Whenever it's sent to the graveyard in battle, I'm allowed to Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster with a defense of 2000 or less from my deck to the field in attack position."

The dust that was the Pyramid Turtle, still swirling in the air, started collecting again on Janet's field. It started forming into a large rectangle. As the last bits came together, the rectangle glowed white briefly and when the light faded, a card was in the place of the rectangle.

"I choose to Special Summon my Ryu Kokki (2400/2000) in attack mode!"

"Tch…" Re'-Sha grunted. With that monster out now, she couldn't attack Janet directly.

"How about that?" Janet asked.

"Feh, it doesn't matter. I'll end this soon. I'll set 2 reverse cards and end my turn." Re'-Sha said. She looked at one of her reverse cards. _You have no idea how short a time you have until I send you to hell. That one card is going to destroy you completely!_

"My turn! Draw!" Janet said and looked at her drawn card. She broke into a smile and looked up at the Skybox at Knowledge. She saw him looking at her with a pretty sour look on his face. Her smile faded and she turned back to Re'-Sha, wondering what was wrong with him.

"OK, Re'-Sha, get ready! Activate Spell! Lightning Vortex!" showing Re'-Sha the card she had just drawn.

"All right!" Janet heard Terry and Jamie yell. Re'-Sha stood prone.

"By discarding 1 card from my hand, I can destroy all of my opponent's face up monsters on their field!"

"What!" Re'-Sha yelled.

Black clouds formed over Re'-Sha's monsters and thunder boomed over the field. Both of her monsters looked up at the clouds just in time to see bolts of lightning dropping down from the sky around them. It started slow, just a strike a second then they started coming more frequently until one larger bolt crashed down on the monsters. The noise was deafening from the crack of lightning and when it cleared, there was nothing to be seen except Re'-Sha. Re'-Sha pointed at Janet.

"You activated the special effect of my Emissary of the Afterlife! When it's sent from the field to the graveyard…" Re'-Sha slipped her deck from her Duel Disk. "Each of us can take a Level 3 or lower Monster from our deck and add it to our hand. After we show them to each other." Re'-Sha already had her monster selected by this time. Janet searched her deck for a quick moment grabbing one monster.

Both of them showed their selections at the same time. Janet had chosen her Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000) but Re'-Sha had selected, predicably, Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000).

"But now your field has no monsters on it. Ryu Kokki (2400/2000), attack her directly!" Janet called out.

Ryu Kokki, a half snake and half zombie monster, slithered quickly toward Re'-Sha. She barely saw it move, it was just a white blur that was screaming toward her. She brought her arms up over her head in defense as the monster brought a clawed and bony hand down over her body. She felt the air hit her body and she dropped down on one knee to brace against it.

RE'-SHA: 100

JANET: 2500

"In that attack, you lost 2400 of your 2500 Life Points. You have only 100 Life Points left. In my next turn, im going to erase the last of your Life and end this, Re'-Sha." Janet hadn't even finished before she heard Re'-Sha laugh, still on one knee and her arms up over her head. She brought her arms down and her hair had fallen a little over her face and she looked crazy. Or more than usually usual.

"My turn. Draw." Re'-Sha said, adding her card to her hand and then setting her hand right over her deck, but not quite touching.

"What is she doing?" Janet wondered.

* * *

Up in the Skybox, Terry felt something in his body. His stomach felt queasy, like a snake was slithering around in there. It was a revolting feeling and he began to get a little faint. He held a hand to his stomach, one on the rail to steady himself and looked down and saw his Millennium Puzzle was glowing.

"What's going on?" he said aloud.

* * *

"OK, Re'-Sha, get this over with." Janet said sternly.

"As you wish, though you might want to take a last look at your friends before they become your enemies."

Janet wasn't worried. She didn't turn her head to look at anyone, she just locked eyes with Re'-Sha.

"OK, then. First, ill summon the monster I just got. I summon Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000) in attack mode!"

The whole chest and head section of Exodia appeared on the field. It looked very strange to see the monster without the other pieces to it on the field. Janet wondered what she was going to do, there was no way Exodia, at least that one piece, could take down her monster. Not only was it superiorly stronger, but Ryu Kokki has a effect detrimental to Exodia. Whenever Ryu-Kokki battles with a Warrior or Spellcaster-Type monster, like Exodia, it was destroyed at the end of the Damage Step. But she could sense that something was wrong, including how she kept hovering her hand over her deck.

"Now, ill play this Spell Card from my hand, Soul of the Pure." Re'-Sha said.

_What irony, she's far from it._ Janet thought to herself.

RE'-SHA: 900

JANET: 2500

"Soul of the Pure increases my Life Points by 800 points. Which gives me just enough to play this other Spell Card from my hand, Enchanting Fitting Room!"

When Re'-Sha slid her Spell Card into her Duel Disk, a white mist started to form on the ground right in front of the Spell Card. A chamber that was enclosed with a red curtain appeared on the field while the mist remained on the field.

"Enchanting Fitting Room?" Janet asked.

"This Spell Card will halfway finish this duel. Enchanting Fitting Room requires a cost of 800 Life Points to play."

Re'-Sha showed Janet the Life Point Counter on her Duel Disk and watched it go from 900 to 100.

"And by paying that, I can draw 4 cards from my deck and Special Summon any Level 3 or lower Normal Monsters from those 4 cards to the field. But any card that isn't a Level 3 or lower Normal Monster is returned to my deck."

_Is she hoping to play some of her Exodia cards with this Spell Card? Probably, but that cost her just about all her Life Points..._ Janet thought to herself.

Re'-Sha put her hand on her deck and thumbed through her cards until she had the four top cards pinched between her thumb and index fingers. She drew her cards, keeping them separate from her other cards, fanned them and looked at them. She took two cards from those and set them back into her deck, Janet guessing those were cards that didn't fit her Spell Card's requirements.

"From the effect of Enchanting Fitting Room, I'll Special Summon my Left and Right Arms of the Forbidden One! (200/300)"

The two arms of Exodia appeared on their respective sides of the main body.

"Now, the last piece of the puzzle, I'll play another Spell Card from my hand. I'll play this! Spell Card! Triangle Power!" Re'-Sha said, quickly sliding her Spell Card into her Duel Disk. When her Spell Card appeared on the field, like the card said, triangles started shooting out of it and it passed over and through the pieces of Exodia on the field. But then the pieces started growing and they got taller and taller. Janet didn't know the effect of Triangle Power, neither did anyone in the Skybox except for Knowledge. And when he saw that Re'-Sha had played it, his eyes flew open in shock and his mouth hung open.

"Triangle Power is a special Spell Card. When I play it, it increases the attack and defense power of all my face up Level 1 Normal Monsters on my field by 2000 points!"

Janet took a shaky step backwards, Exodia had grown to easily dwarf her Ryu-Kokki and even the actual Skybox. The arms that were hanging just to the sides of the Exodia body now connected themselves to it. The white mist that had been on the field since Re'-Sha had played Enchanting Fitting Room rose higher, up to their knees. Exodia the Forbidden One's stats remained the same at (1000/1000) but each of its arms had pumped themselves up to (2200/2300).

Re'-Sha licked her lips then pointed to Janet. "Exodia Crusher!"

Exodia looked down at Janet, like it was curious about her, then with surprising quickness for something of its size, it had raised its arms over its head, hands clasped in a double axe handle, about to swing it down on Janet's monster.

"Idiot!" Janet criticized of Re'-Sha. "Exodia isn't strong enough to destroy my monster! My monster has an attack power of 2400, yours only has 2200!"

"You have NO monsters! Set Card Open! Offerings to the Doomed!" Re'-Sha called out. Her one set card, which she had set on her last turn but was now hidden in the mist, flipped up and shot out a white bolt of lighting that hit Ryu-Kokki and destroyed it instantly. Janet raised her arms to block the polygons that flew toward her.

"What the!" she said.

"Offerings to the Doomed is a Quick-Play Spell that destroys one face-up monster as long as I skip my next Draw Phase. But I don't need it!" Re'-Sha said, pointing toward her monster. Janet, who was as defiant as she could be until the last card was played, knew that it was now all over.

"I lost…." She whispered to herself.

* * *

"Get the hell out of my way!" Knowledge screamed. Jamie had a hand on his collar, trying to hold him back.

"No, don't even think about it!" Jamie said.

"Gyyyyaaah!" Knowledge yelled. Knowledge was leaning over the railing of the Skybox and Jamie had his collar from behind. Knowledge shifted backwards swiftly and angled his elbow into the chest of Jamie, square on his lungs. Jamie let go quickly, trying to catch the breath Knowledge just knocked from him. Knowledge then jumped the railing down to the ground and broke for the duel field. He was about a few yards away from the edge when he ran into some invisible force that blocked him from going any further. He was on the sideline, around mid-field. He saw Re'-Sha with a toothy, wicked smile on her face, Exodia bringing it's arms down toward Janet with it's hands in a double axe handle type of blow. And Janet was looking straight at it.

"Janet!" Knowledge screamed

The next few moments would live in Knowledge's memory forever. She heard his voice and turned toward him. The cards in her hand fluttered to the ground. Her hands hung loosely at her sides. Her head turned to meet his gaze, her own head tilted slightly to the side. One single tear was flowing down her cheek closest to Knowledge's gaze.

"Knowledge…" she said. Then it was all over, the hands of Exodia came down over Janet and all Knowledge saw was blinding white. He fell backwards on his butt, his arms crossed in front of his eyes. But the flash was only momentary, between blinks he saw Exodia's fists had crashed down on the field right on Janet. Little white spikes shot up through the ground and the ground around her had been crushed down like an impact crater.

Knowledge was only focused in on the crater but Janet was still hidden. He faintly registered Sinclair announcing Re'-Sha as the winner as he crawled up to his feet and walked over toward Janet's position. Exodia was still on the field and Knowledge looked up at it and the beast looked back at him. Cold, lifeless but powerful red eyes stared at him before they started to fade away as it disappeared.

When he got to where Janet was, all he could do was look. She was kneeling on her hands and knees, her clothes slightly smoldering and cards scattered around her. He saw her back rise and fall as she took breaths. He reached down and took her arm to bring her up to her feet. She slowly cooperated, her body was shaking.

_FWAP!_

Janet snatched her arm away from Knowledge's grasp, but she had snatched it upwards and balled her hand into a fist that cracked against the bottom of Knowledge's jaw. He fell back a few steps and rubbed his jaw. He looked back at Janet with surprise.

Janet had gotten to her feet, was standing with her head lowered and her fist still in the air. She slowly lowered it as she lifted her head to look at Knowledge. Knowledge couldn't believe his eyes. Her own eyes, which were brown to begin with, had turned coal black. And with the look she was giving him, she was not at all like the girl he had known.

"Janet?" Knowledge asked.

"Get away from me if you know what's good for you." Janet said, staring at Knowledge.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Absolutely nothing." she replied. "I feel fine, except for the fact that you keep bothering me."

"Bothering you?" Knowledge asked.

"Yeah, so just get away from me like I said. Last warning." Janet said. As she said it, she shifted her feet slightly like she was planning to do something.

"Something's wrong with you, you're not yourself…" Knowledge said, not finishing the statement.

"Knowledge, don't! Re'-Sha changed her!" Terry yelled out, running from the Skybox toward him with Jamie close behind.

"Not changed. Made better, Terry." Janet said.

"Come on, it's just an act." Knowledge said, turning toward Terry.

Janet made her move quick as lightning. She took two quick side steps toward Knowledge and swung her leg into his gut. Knowledge doubled over and grabbed at his stomach, which gave Janet an opportunity to raise her knee and smash it against his face too. He dropped and fell on his side, holding his face in his hand. Janet, nothing but malice and hate in her, swung her leg back to kick him again when she was grabbed from behind by Travis Sinclair.

"Enough!" he roared, swinging Janet and planting her down again and turned her to face him. "You're done here. You lost, so don't take out your anger on that boy."

"He wouldn't get out of my way, so I dropped him out of my way." Janet explained calmly, like it made perfect sense.

Sinclair didn't agree. "Janet, get out of here. I don't want to see you here any longer or I'll press charges against you." He hissed.

Janet looked at him, smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She bent over to silently pick up some cards she had left on the ground. When she went to pick up one that faced Knowledge and she knelt to grab it, Knowledge looked at her through his hands still on his face. She stared back at him with those eyes that made him very edgy and nervous now. She had changed. She just had beaten him down and didn't show any remorse for it.

Like she was reading his mind, she curled the side of her mouth into a smirk. Like she acknowledged she enjoyed beating him up.

"I'll be seeing you around, pussy." Janet said to him. She walked past him and Sinclair. Terry and Jamie shared their faces of shock as she walked by them with no remarks. Both of them noticed how her eyes had changed and how different she was now.

And on the other side of the Duel Field, Re'-Sha had watched the entire thing unfold with glee.

* * *

_There it is, the corruption of Janet. _

_I had another style of writing this in my head but i went with this one. I like how it turned out and i think it works well._

_One little quick note, any sharp eyes might have caught a little slip in the ruling for Emisary of the Afterlife. It isn't a slip, i did that intentionally. Originally, Emisary of the Afterlife would only allow a player to search for a Level 3 or lower NORMAL monster, but i tweaked it so it could search for any Level 3 monster. It was the only way i knew of to get Re'-Sha's Exodia the Forbidden One back into her hand. _

_But that's now in the past. In the next chapter, Terry, Jamie and Knowledge deal with what has just happened. But then the next match begins. Knowledge gets his wish and gets to take on the King of Games, Lamar Vega. How will he do against the champion? Check for that in the next chapter called Knowledge vs. Vega - Dragons Up. (Yeah, i know i just pulleda copyright infringement...blah, blah)_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	22. Knowledge vs Vega: Dragons Up!

_Disclaimer: Aren't we all equal? I guess not where lawyers and money and a sucessful franchise is concerned, lol._

_Well were up to the second duel in the Battle City semi-finals. And it's one i've been leading up to for a while now. Knowledge takes on Lamar Vega, and two legendary rival dragons will take on each other in this duel. And we'll find out a little more about Knowledge's connection to Re'-Sha's Future History and how the guys deal with the defeat of Janet._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 23: Vega vs. Knowledge – Dragons Up

The Duel Field was empty and the crowd was murmuring about the incident that had just happened. No one had come out to say anything to them about it, so they thought as a group it was the act of a pretty sad girl lashing out at her friends. They all did know that she had been removed from the tournament and was no longer there.

Inside one of the tents, Knowledge had just finished getting attended to by a volunteer for the tournament that was pretty good with First Aid and patched him up quickly. Terry and Jamie were the only other ones there and they were all silent. They weren't starting the next duel until Knowledge got fixed up and was good to go. The volunteer finished looking him over and stepped out of the tent. For a while afterwards, no one said anything. Everyone recounting their own roles in what had just happened during and after that duel.

"What happened to her, Terry? What did she do to change her?" Knowledge asked, sitting on a table leaning forward and staring at his feet.

Terry, who was standing near him, explained what he knew about that Game of Darkness that Re'-Sha had just put Janet through.

"Is there some way to change her back?" Knowledge asked after a moment.

"I'm not sure. I don't think beating Re'-Sha will automatically fix it."

"I see." Knowledge said, rubbing his eyelids with his thumb and index finger.

"The only way that I'm sure to get her back is to challenge Janet in a Game of Darkness." Terry said. "Same rules would apply…"

"Fine, I'll do it." Knowledge said.

"You need one of the Millennium Items to do that, Knowledge." Jamie said.

"Then give me one, Terry." Knowledge said, holding out his hand.

"No."

"Terry." Knowledge said, wiggling his fingers.

"I said no, Knowledge. Re'-Sha needs these items and she can only challenge me for them. If I gave you one, you'd become a target and I can't risk that."

Knowledge sighed, knowing that he was right. Janet would be fine for the moment but he wanted a chance to set things right. He saw that the only way for her to change back would be in another Game of Darkness but it would be foolish to make a target of himself.

"Don't worry, man." Jamie said, putting a hand on Knowledge's shoulder. "I know you can set things right. Janet's not gone, she still in there. You have to keep focused and not let that or Re'-Sha continue to get to you."

Knowledge looked up at Jamie. Jamie just nodded his head and Knowledge droped his head and started looking at the floor again. He knew in his heart that Jamie was telling him the truth. If Re'-Sha kept getting to him, if everyone kept getting to him, he'd lose it.

Just at that moment, Vega pulled the flap of the tent back and stood in the entryway.

"Get on your feet, now! I'm not going to wait for you anymore. All the time you've had is just delaying my win. " Vega commanded.

Knowledge jumped off the table and stared down Vega. "Just what makes you do damned confident, huh? Tell me, is there something that im missing about you that makes you so much better than me?"

Terry cursed Vega. He had warned him in advance about trying to get Knowledge down. He remembered how he left Vega hanging about why he told him that and he saw the reason right in front of him. Knowledge was the type of guy that lived for a challenge. The tougher it seemed for him to accomplish something, the harder he went after it. So he rarely let his emotions get in the way, but Vega was pushing it. He didn't want Vega to hold back at all against Knowledge and he knew his friend wouldn't hold anything back, definitely not the way he was feeling now.

"Something that makes me better than you? I can do everything better than you, son, including duck a punch." Vega sneered.

"Start walking to the field before we really see if you can duck a punch." Knowledge said, walking toward the entryway. Vega turned and walked out and Knowledge was right behind him. Jamie and Terry walked over to the Skybox as they left the tent, which is where Sinclair was standing.

Sinclair looked down at Knowledge as he passed under him. Knowledge gave him a nod to acknowledge he was alright. Sinclair went on to announce the next match as Knowledge and Vega stood under the Skybox. Sinclair got his cue for the cameras and got into his act.

"All right fans! We had an excellent display of duel talents in the last match and im sure the level of play is only going to go higher with the duelists participating in our next one!"

"Please, let me introduce you and our TV audience to our duelists in our second match! First, the no. 21 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City tournament, Catravious 'Knowledge' Collins!"

Knowledge walked toward his side of the field, hearing the cheers for him. He started pumping his fists, trying to get more out of the crowd.

"And his opponent really needs no introduction. Our no. 2 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City tournament, a winner of various private tournament and championships. The three-time winner of the Upperdeck Duel King tournament and the current Yu-Gi-Oh! World Champion. Let me introduce to you Lamar Vega!"

A great roar went up for the champion as he silently walked across the field to his position on the Duel Field. Knowledge looked at the crowd as they cheered the second best duelist here. He knew that little introduction was perfect for him except for that part about being the second best in the tournament. That made Knowledge smile but he didn't show it on his face. It was time to get to work, to deliver on his intentions. He reached into his pocket and got his deck out and slipped it into his Duel Disk.

Vega, who already had his deck set, waited with his arms crossed.

"Vega, are you ready?" Sinclair asked from the Skybox.

Vega nodded.

"Catravious, are you ready?" Sinclair asked.

Knowledge, never comfortable with being called Catravious, just waved his hand toward Sinclair.

"Duel!" Sinclair called.

Both players drew their starting five cards and, without hesitation, Knowledge announced he would take the first move.

_Look at him looking at me all smug like. He still doesn't think that I'm some kind of threat to him. Let him stay that way. I'll beat him and give him a humiliating defeat!_

"My turn! Draw!" Knowledge said, and looked at his drawn card, his Blue-Eyes White Dragon. _Good, I've got my key card already._

"I'll summon my Masked Dragon (1400/1100) in attack mode! Then I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Knowledge said.

"My turn. Draw." Vega said calmly.

Terry looked on at both duelists. _Hope for his sake that Vega takes my advice to heart. Speaking of which, I haven't even seen what kind of deck that either of them uses..._

Vega looked over across the field at his opponent. _I've been watching him for a little while now. He definitely has improved some, but he still isn't a match for me. Even still...I can't take a chance with him._ He recalled his conversations with Janet and Terry.

"I'll set one reverse monster and one reverse card." Vega said, and then took one more card from his hand. "Then ill play this Spell from my hand, Spell Card, Different Dimension Capsule."

"Different Dimension Capsule?" asked Knowledge.

"When I play this Spell Card, I can select one card of any type and remove it from play. When my second Standby Phase passes after I play this card, I can add that card to my hand."

Vega started fishing through his deck for his card. Knowledge just watched and waited. Whatever Vega was making such a big deal about, he just didn't know what it was yet. But when he decided to play it, he would topple it anyway.

Vega selected his card and at that moment, the Capsule that was on the Spell Card that was sitting on the field started to materialize on the field. A card appeared next to the capsule, it's back facing Knowledge. The capsule opened and the card floated inside and the doors shut themselves.

"My turn. Draw." Knowledge said, looking over Vega's field. He didn't appreciate the sneaky play by him, he expected him to come with a more offensive opening. He couldn't summon Blue-Eyes just yet, so he decided to play it soft.

"I'll set this reverse monster and end my turn." Knowledge said.

Vega smirked. _Do I intimidate you that much that you hesitate to attack?_

"My turn! Draw! I'll summon Opticlops (1800/1700) in attack mode!"

Knowledge didn't even wait for the monster to form on the field. "Got you! Reveal Trap Card! Adhesion Trap Hole!"

Knowledge's Trap Card appeared on the field and a pit emerged under the feet of Vega's Opticlops. It tried to reach for the edge of the pit but it missed and fell under.

"Whenever my opponent Normal Summons, Flip Summons or Special Summons a monster to the field, I can reveal this Trap Card. It halves the attack power of the monster it targets." Knowledge watched the Attack Counter of Opticlops drop to 900.

"Should've waited, so I'll Flip Summon my other monster, Slate Warrior! (1900/400)"

A monster, wearing odd clothing, a yellow chest plate kind of armor and blue skin came onto Vega's field. This monster's fists were massive and they hung almost to its knees.

"Slate Warrior has a special effect when its flip summoned. It increases its own attack and defense power by 500 points." Vega said, smiling.

Knowledge cursed his luck.Slate Warrior pumped its fists and a new Attack Counter appeared showing 2400/900.

Vega pointed toward Knowledge's field. "Now, Opticlops (900/1700) attack his reverse monster (?)!"

Opticlops ran toward Knowledge's monster, its feet crashing down on the ground it stepped on. When it got pretty close to his monster, it skipped and reared back its fist. When his other foot fell, he shifted and threw all its weight into that punch on Knowledge's card.

And it didn't help at all. When it connected with the card, everyone just heard a loud 'pang' and Vega's monster danced back to his field. Knowledge's reverse monster revealed itself on its own, his defense mode Twin-Headed Behemoth (1500/1200), which was kneeling on its own card with its arms crossed.

"In that attack, you'll take 300 points of damage for not being stronger than my Behemoth's defense." Knowledge said, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

KNOWLEDGE: 4000

VEGA: 3700

"Feh, doesn't matter." Vega said, not even bothering to look at his Life Counter. He had dropped to 3700 Life Points. "Slate Warrior (2400/900) attack his Masked Dragon! (1400/1100)"

Slate Warrior spaced its legs apart and took up a fighting stance, its fists raised. He reared back and leaned back on his back foot with one fist in the air and starting to glow white softly. Like a damned lighting bolt, he stomped down with his front foot and jabbed at the air. The white light on his fist was jettisoned off his fist and it impacted Masked Dragon right in the chest, destroying it instantly.

KNOWLEDGE: 3000

VEGA: 3700

Knowledge raised his Duel Disk so Vega could see as his Life Points ticked off to 3000. "That lets me use Masked Dragon's special effect. When it's sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from my deck with an attack power of 1500 or less to the field in attack mode. So I'll choose my Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1000)."

Divine Dragon Ragnarok's card appeared on the field and it materialized on Knowledge's field in attack mode, mouth open, fangs bared and ready.

"I'll end my turn there." Vega said.

* * *

Jamie and Terry were watching the duel from the Skybox, observing their friend and Vega.

"Did you notice how little trash-talking they're doing now?" Jamie said to Terry.

"They probably don't need to now." Terry said.

"What do you mean?" asked Jamie.

"Well, they've said everything that needs to be said. Look at them, they're both just intent on playing their hardest and coming out the winner."

"You see all that?" asked Jamie.

Terry nodded.

"Even in Vega? He never took Knowledge seriously."

"I told him to take him seriously." Terry said, with a smile creeping on his lips.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because I know that Knowledge doesn't want anything less than what he feels was his opponent's best in a game. That's Knowledge for you; the tougher it seems for him to accomplish something, the harder he goes after it. And after that, he lives for a challenge that's bigger or greater than the last that he tackled."

Jamie laughed. "That's true."

Terry was laughing too until he noticed something. Down below them he noticed that Re'-Sha was sitting on the ground, cross-legged. He took his eyes off the duel and looked at her, wondering what she was up to now.

* * *

Re'-Sha was deep in thought. She was concerned that her plan might fall apart with the appearance of this kid that had appeared in her vision. When she initially saw Knowledge in her vision of her future, it was just him alone. She could feel that he had the intention to take her on and she was sure of that now that she had twisted his girlfriend to evil and she seemed to like it.

That was all well and good but she had just tried to perform God Sight just now and for the few seconds she had it, she could feel his hate for her. For only a few seconds, she felt nothing discernable, she felt a slew of emotion that had hate and fury and anger at its center, directed at her. For the first time in a long time, she had felt nervous.

She shook these thoughts from her mind and relaxed again. She had come out to this spot to observe the boy duel and to attempt her God Sight again. She shut her eyes and focused. Soon she felt the total relaxation that overcomes her body when she uses God Sight and she felt almost disconnected from her body. She opened her eyes and looked around and saw nothing but blue in front of her. That didn't make sense to her and like she wasn't seeing out of her eyes, that blue seemed to 'zoom out' on her and as it got farther away, she realized that she wasn't looking at a blue wall but a blue eye. Blue-Eyes White Dragon. And those blue eyes were looking right at her and it towered over her, like it dared her to oppose it.

Then suddenly, the grand dragon opened its mouth and attacked, letting loose a bright light. The light overtook her eyes and she shut them. When she opened them again, the monster was gone and she was looking at the duel field. There was nobody there and black mist hung over the sides of it. She looked to one side and she saw a yellow glow appear in an odd shape. She looked closer and saw it was the Millennium Ring and her body walked out of the mist. Then on the opposite side of the field, she saw a figure that looked like Knowledge step out of that mist and stand on his side of the Duel Field. And this time, Re'-Sha could clearly make out the Eye of Annubis on his forehead. The two of them looked at each other, facing off.

Re'-Sha noticed that these were pretty random images; she wanted to see the end of this conflict. She focused in on that and the image of her and Knowledge on the Duel Field slowly disappeared. Darkness overtook her eyes again and nothing could be seen.

Re'-Sha brought herself back to reality, thinking to herself. _All I can see is the conflict me and him will engage in with his Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Then nothing else. If I can see the battle, then why the hell can't I see the ending?_

* * *

"My turn! Draw!" Knowledge said, and glared hard at Vega. _If you don't give me respect, then I'll have to force some out of you!_

Knowledge pointed toward his monsters on the field. "I'll sacrifice my Divine Dragon Ragnorak and Twin-Headed Behemoth! Come out, Blue-Eyes White Dragon! (3000/2500)"

Both Divine Dragon and Twin-Headed Behemoth had swirls of white smoke spinning around their feet and it came up to their heads. They disappeared in the spiral of smoke and then the two merged together and in that light, Blue-Eyes' card came out and then the monster itself started to fly out of the card. It circled the field, climbed into the air slightly and came to rest right behind Knowledge. It looked down at Vega and let out a roar of defiance and challenge to him. The whole crowd that was gathered there applauded and cheered the appearance of Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Knowledge heard it but didn't acknowledge them, he focused on Vega.

Vega, who had expected Blue-Eyes didn't think he could play it so soon. So that surprised him a little bit but he wasn't intimidated.

"Blue-Eyes (3000/2500), destroy Opticlops! (900/1700)" Knowledge called. His monster, which was just above his head, opened its mouth up and let out another roar as well as collected power for its attack.

"Burst Stream!"

On that word from Knowledge, Blue-Eyes fired it's attack at Opticlops. It came like a laser shot and Opticlops didn't stand a chance at all against it. It was destroyed instantly and its polygons flew back toward Vega who tried to shield himself from the violent attack and aftermath.

KNOWLEDGE: 3000

VEGA: 1600

"Impressive…" Vega said to himself. He looked at his Duel Disk to watch his Life Points tick down to 1600.

"But at that moment, Set Card, Open! Stray Lambs!" Vega called out. A Spell Card flipped up on Vega's field and two small horned lambs, much like Scapegoats, appeared on his field.

"Stray Lambs?" asked Knowledge.

"Stray Lambs is a Spell Card that allows me to Special Summon 2 Lamb Tokens 0/0 in defense mode in the turn I play it. But I cannot Normal, Flip or Special Summon any other monster in the same turn that I play it." Vega explained.

Knowledge wondered why he would play such a card and at such a time. Blue-Eyes was his only monster and Vega still had his Slate Warrior (2400/900) on the field before he activated it.

"That ends my turn." Knowledge said.

"My turn. Draw!" Vega said.

Knowledge noticed immediately that the Different Dimension Capsule on Vega's field started to glow blue after Vega started his turn. Vega saw Knowledge looking and smirked.

"This turn is my 2nd Standby Phase after activating my Different Dimension Capsule. So I can now add the card I selected to my hand and destroy the Capsule." Vega said. He ejected the Spell Card where he had also placed his selected card, kept that card from his hand cards and sent his Different Dimension Capsule to the graveyard.

"I'll set one reverse card." Vega said, and then he held up the card that he had gotten from the capsule.

"When you see this monster come to the field, I guarantee that it will destroy you and win me the duel." Vega proclaimed.

Knowledge narrowed his eyes. "My Blue-Eyes is the strongest monster. Period. Whatever you have there, it won't be enough to take it down."

"I guarantee you that it will win me the duel. I only need this monster! I'll sacrifice my two Lamb Tokens!" Vega said, raising his card in the air, pointing it to the sky.

Knowledge watched the two Lamb Tokens turn white and rise into the air. _The tokens from Stray Lambs can be used as sacrifices for a Sacrifice Summon not like the Scapegoat Tokens..._

When the Tokens got up to the clouds, the clouds themselves started turning black and the area started to fill with the sounds of thunder and lightning flashed through the clouds. Vega's side of the field started to get much darker. And darker and then it got so dark that Knowledge couldn't see Vega or his Slate Warrior anymore. He tried to look hard into it and was shocked when he saw a set of red eyes, slim and narrow, staring right back at him. When those eyes appeared, the darkness started to lift and he could start to make out the shape of the monster that was hidden there. And when he recognized it, he didn't want to really believe what he saw.

"By sacrificing my two Stray Lambs," Vega began, now visible himself, "I summon MY deck's greatest monster, my Red-Eyes Black Dragon! (2400/2000)"

Red-Eyes was hovering on the field just above Vega and it looked from Knowledge to Blue-Eyes. It let loose a roar to its rival dragon and Blue-Eyes returned the favor. And both Knowledge and Vega stared down each other like their dragons were doing with each other.

* * *

_The one gripe that i had with Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters was that they illustrated that Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes were great rivals but didn't say or do much else about it. Plus the fact that their masters, Kaiba Seto and Jonouchi Katsuya, were a lot like the monsters themselves. But they never showed a duel with Kaiba and Jonouchi using their best cards. So i wanted to make up one with this story for my own conscious._

_I've been procrastinating on writing lately, im in the middle of a duel later on and its difficult because im trying to wrap up loose ends. I dont use betas so its a chore to have to look for the loose ends i might have forgotten._

_Now that the duel has started, theres only one place for it to go and that's to its end. Red-Eyes vs. Blue-Eyes. On paper, this would be a simple case of Blue-Eyes trashing the black dragon but it will not be that simple. Course, things like this are never that simple. Check in soon for the next chapter, Red-Eyes Black Dragon vs. Blue-Eyes White Dragon._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	23. Red Eyes B Dragon vs Blue Eyes W Dragon

_Disclaimer: Rick James !_

_Ah, so nice to finally get to this chapter. It's this point in time that I wanted to give my other characters some personality and some inner workings. Knowledge has had some of that kind of time but I wanted to get some time for Vega too._

_So sit back and enjoy the rest of the duel. _

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 24: Red-Eyes Black Dragon vs. Blue-Eyes White Dragon

Vega had just summoned his Red-Eyes Black Dragon for his turn but Knowledge didn't like that statement he had made about Red-Eyes beating him. He didn't believe Vega to be the type to bluff. And the guy was definitely good, he had to give that to him.

"My turn isn't over yet. Slate Warrior! (2400/900)" Vega called his monster to attention. "Attack Blue-Eyes! (3000/2500)"

Knowledge grimaced at this, he watched Slate Warrior rear back its fist to throw at Blue-Eyes but it never got the chance. Blue-Eyes' Burst Stream engulfed the monster and destroyed him before he could even get its attack off the ground. Vega was watching Knowledge's face for any expression and all he saw was just plain frustration. That brought a smile to his face as his Life Points had to tick down to just 1000.

KNOWLEDGE: 3000

VEGA: 1000

"And in that battle, my Slate Warrior's special effect is activated. When it's destroyed as a result of battle, the monster that destroyed it reduces its attack and defense power by 500 points each." Vega said.

"I see…" Knowledge said dryly. "My turn. Draw." _So my Blue-Eyes is at (2500/2000) right now but my dragon is still stronger than Red-Eyes. One attack would be enough to destroy it and Vega's strategy. But it can't be that easy._ He glanced down at the set card on Vega's field. _I wonder what that is..._

Vega thought to himself, _He won't attack. He knows better now. _

Knowledge picked a card from his hand and set it in his Spell/Trap zone to end his turn. He couldn't find a reason to attack him then, it just smelled too much like a set-up. And at this point, if either of them lost their dragons, they'd lose the duel.

"My turn." Vega said, and glanced at his drawn card. "I'll play this Equip Spell Card, Flint." A Spell Card appeared on Vega's field and glowed white for a moment but aside from that, nothing seemed to happen. Vega explained.

"Flint is an Equipment Spell Card that I have chosen to equip to your Blue-Eyes White Dragon (2500/2000). When this card is equipped to a monster, it decreases its attack power by 300 points. Also, that monster can't attack or change its Battle Position. If the monster that is equipped with Flint is destroyed, it must be equipped to another monster on the field."

Knowledge saw Vega had just put his Blue-Eyes on lockdown. He was stuck in attack mode and now it was weaker than Red-Eyes!

Vega smiled, _Like I thought, you take away Knowledge's power, his Blue-Eyes, and he's sunk._

"Red-Eyes (2400/2000) attack Blue-Eyes! (2200/2000)" Vega said, lifting his hand toward his hovering Red-Eyes. Its red eyes glowed a fierce shade of red and it opened its mouth, readying to attack.

"Reveal Trap Card! Threatening Roar!" Knowledge called, sweeping his arm toward the card that was face up on the field. A loud roar escaped the mouth of Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes paused in the face of that. It closed its mouth but a low growl was heard escaping from its throat.

"Threatening Roar is a Trap Card that forbids you from attack in the turn I play it. That attack is negated and Blue-Eyes is safe."

_Not for much longer, Knowledge._ Vega thought to himself. He picked a card up from his hand. "Since I cannot attack for this turn, I'll set one reverse card and play this from my hand, Spell Card, Inferno Fire Blast!"

"What?" Knowledge yelled.

Vega's Spell Card appeared on the field and once again, Red-Eyes started to open its mouth and prepare to attack. "Inferno Fire Blast, for me to use this card, I must have 1 Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field. With this card, I can inflict Direct Damage equal to the original attack power of Red-Eyes to my opponent's Life Points!"

As Vega finished explaining, Red-Eyes had collected a massive red ball of energy in its mouth that crackled around the outside with black lightning. It started tilting its long neck backwards toward the sky.

"Inferno Fire Blast!" Vega called, pointing at Knowledge. Blue-Eyes swooped down from above Knowledge as if to block the blast, which was coming for him now. As it got to point blank range, the blast kept going and passed through Blue-Eyes harmlessly, still on course for Knowledge. He widened his eyes in shock seeing that blast coming for him through the backside of his Blue-Eyes, he crossed his arms as the attack impacted him. He tried to dig his feet in but was too late and felt himself sliding backwards from the force of the enormous explosion of red fire and smoke.

KNOWLEDGE: 600

VEGA: 1000

"Dammit." Knowledge groaned to himself. He looked down at his Life Counter and saw he was now only at 600 Life Points compared to Vega's 1000 Life Points.

"I'll end my turn." Vega said.

Knowledge drew his card silently thinking to himself. _He pegged me pretty good. As it stands now, if I get attacked again, it's all over. Since I can't attack, I'll have to anticipate Red-Eyes coming for me._

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Knowledge said.

"My turn, draw." Vega said. He looked up at Blue-Eyes, thinking. _The strongest monster isn't determined by its name and attack power. The duelist controlling it makes all the difference. You're tough, but you're not as strong as you can be, Knowledge. Sometimes it takes a very, very hard defeat to learn that. That much I know from first hand experience. And for that, I apologize._

"Red-Eyes! (2400/2000) Do as I promised and destroy your rival! Bring us our victory!" Vega said, pointing toward Blue-Eyes with an open palm.

"Blue-Eyes! (2200/2000) We're weakened but we will never stop fighting! Let's go! Reveal Quick-Play Spell Card! Rush Recklessly!" Knowledge called out. The Spell Card flipped up on his field and his Blue-Eyes started to glow a soft shade of blue all over its body.

"Rush Recklessly increases my monsters attack power by 700 points for one turn. That puts it at (2900/2000) but that's enough to take down Red-Eyes! Burst Stream!"

"Not quite!" Vega called back, "Set Card, Open! Rising Energy!" Vega's card flipped up on the field and likewise, Red-Eyes started to glow in a soft red aura like its 'cousin'.

"For discarding one card in my hand to the Graveyard, I can increase the attack power of one monster for one turn by 1500 points! That puts Red-Eyes at (3900/2000) But to finish it completely, Set Card, Open! Counter Trap! Spell Shield Type-8!"

Another card flipped up on Vega's field, a Counter Trap Card that materialized a small spinning silver machine that looked futuristic and dangerous.

"Spell Shield Type-8 can negate the activation and effect of a Spell Card that designates a monster as a target and destroy it. So I target your Rush Recklessly!"

At this moment, both Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes, who both were charging their attack's let them fly at each other. Blue-Eyes firing a blue-white beam that illuminated Knowledge's side of the field in a soft blue light that refracted off everything. Red-Eyes leaned back with its neck and head pointed toward the sky, the fireball reached its max power and it let it loose at the Burst Stream.

The two attacks collided with each other in the middle of the duel field. A blue beam struggling against a red fireball. Of course, with the Trap Cards Vega had used, Blue-Eyes attack power remained at 2200 while Red-Eyes had jumped up to an insane 3900. And soon after, the Inferno Fire Blast started to quickly push back the Burst Stream closer and closer to Blue-Eyes until it overtook the monster and it actually enclosed the white dragon in the fireball. The monster roared in its final kind of defiance but it was useless and it exploded in a mess of polygons inside the fireball, but didn't fade away. That fireball then started to collapse on itself until a red dot was just hovered in the air that floated around the field. It started drifting toward Red-Eyes and in a swift instant, it snapped it's mouth down over it.

As soon as those teeth clamped down, the crowd that had gathered erupted into a chorus of cheers and hollers for Vega and his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Vega looked down at his Red-Eyes card on his Duel Disk and smiled at it. Then the smile faded as he turned toward the Skybox and locked eyes with Terry. Terry looked down from his vantage point and his eyes narrowed as he realized he had a new and powerful rival to contend with, one that was strong enough to defeat Knowledge.

Knowledge however had continued to stare at Red-Eyes that was still on the field. _Red-Eyes Black Dragon...Damn you._

Sinclair officially announced Lamar Vega as the winner and another grand cheer went up for the former champion.

"But let's not forget about Catravious, he put up a grand battle. Let's give him a hand too!" Sinclair said, tucking the mic under his arm and starting to clap. The crowd agreed and applause rang out in his honor. Both duelists started walking off the field but Knowledge noticed Re'-Sha sitting on the ground. He saw her, stopped, then started walking away from her again, not wanting to engage her.

"Well, not only did you lose your duel, but you got your ass handed to you by your girlfriend. I'll say this isn't your day my friend. Then again, that befits a completely useless person like you. Totally useless, clueless, pathetic boy." Re'-Sha said, getting up and walking off away from Knowledge.

Knowledge, who had heard what she had said, just froze in place for a moment, burning with rage. He felt control over his emotions slipping and Re'-Sha had just about taken him to the edge. He tightened his hands into fists then continued walking. He heard Re'-Sha laughing over his shoulder and tightened his right fist so much that he started to draw blood from the palm of his hand.

Terry watched as Re'-Sha walked away from Knowledge, relieved that for whatever reason, Knowledge didn't opt to do something stupid like attacking her. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Jamie looking at him with a smile on his face.

"And then there were two." Jamie said.

Terry turned fully toward him and smiled. "Yeah, and we'll make it a duel that will definitely rock the house!"

"All right!" Jamie said, walking down from the Skybox to the ground.

Terry lingered up in the Skybox a few more minutes and looked over his shoulder toward Knowledge. He had walked to a corner of the sectioned off Duel Area and was looking down at a card from his deck. He 'seemed' to be taking his recent run of life allright, though he knew his friend had to be hurting inside.

"He didn't have faith in his friend taking on Re'-Sha and she is a totally different person now. He lost the duel he wanted to use to prove himself as a better duelist. And to top that off, he still doesn't have the respect that he naturally deserves." Terry was talking quietly to himself about Knowledge.

"Wondering about your friend?"

Terry turned and saw Sinclair standing behind him looking at Knowledge too. Terry nodded to confirm Sinclair's thoughts.

"I don't think you need to worry too much. He's not soft and he has self-respect, which is important."

"Self-respect?" asked Terry.

"Yeah, losing that duel, I know he was upset and disappointed with himself. But he had self-respect enough to not make a fool of himself. Not like that other girl did before him."

"Yeah…" Terry said, realizing that he didn't know that Janet couldn't help herself when she flipped out and attacked Knowledge after her duel with Re'-Sha.

"He will come out on top later on, he's a good kid and has smarts. But there's no denying it. His Battle City is over."

Knowledge held his Blue-Eyes White Dragon in his hand, staring at it, not sure what he was looking for in it. All he knew was that he was feeling very, very frustrated right now.

He came into this tournament wanting to earn respect of his fellow duelists. He had his chance against Lamar Vega. There's no other person he could have asked to duel against, now that he thought about it. He was nothing but an asshole to him. He played his hardest and did everything he could against him but it wasn't enough. He lost.

And even worse than that, he watched, just watched, Janet lose her duel against Re'-Sha and felt totally helpless. Terry had been right, even though she lost, he should have had a lot more faith in her. And because of that, he felt miserable. The Janet he knew was gone, and there was no way that he could help her at this point.

_My Blue-Eyes...I loved this monster since I learned about the game. It represented everything I wanted to have. The ultimate icon. It was powerful, respected and feared all at once. So I used it and strived to use it as well as Seto Kaiba, even if the character isn't real. But I've failed at that, just like I've failed myself. Just like I failed Janet. Just like I failed...Blue-Eyes. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. Maybe I'm not good enough to use Blue-Eyes to it's fullest extent._

Knowledge was looking at his card the whole time as he was thinking. He read off the description of it to himself; _This legendary dragon is a powerful engine of destruction. Virtually invincible, very few have faced this awesome creature and lived to tell the tale._

_Virtually invincible..._ Knowledge wondered to himself. _A monster like this is undefeatable. Unless...it means..._ and at that point, his eyes brightened up. _Blue-Eyes is most certainly 'virtually invincible', it depends on the duelist controlling it how strong it can really be. On its own, it's a powerhouse but with a great duelist controlling it, it can become the 'engine of destruction' it talks about. So I just have to work harder to achieve that._

Knowledge turned and started walking back toward the Duel Area, his mind refocused and his new objective clear. _I've been kinda dumb for a guy named Knowledge. I was wrong to think like I was. I chose Blue-Eyes as my monster, but that won't make me an instant powerhouse. I need to work, and right now, I need to work harder than ever at it. I will not rest until I become the best Blue-Eyes duelist in the world. Respect? It would be nice to have, but that isn't so important. Blue-Eyes and I were made for each other, I'm certain of it now. I will become much, much stronger. I'll defeat and learn from much stronger duelists. And...I'll come back to Vega and defeat Blue-Eyes' – no – OUR rival, Lamar Vega and Red-Eyes Black Dragon._

If Blue-Eyes could smile, it would be smiling at its partner now.

_And as far as Janet, I'll find a way to get her back. I swear it. But until then, I'll take out my frustrations on someone else..._

Vega slowly walked up the stairs to the Skybox where Terry, who had spotted him heading his way, was waiting patiently. He made a slow accent and stood in front of Terry, unblinking and un-intimidated.

"Terry." he said.

"Vega." Terry replied.

"Your friend put up a good fight. He should be proud." Vega said.

_What? Compliments for Knowledge? From you?_ "I'm sure he is." Terry said, not choosing to say what he was thinking.

"But I'm still in the tournament, I'm still going to the finals, and you'd better not lose." Vega said.

Terry sighed. "Like I told you, I'm not here to battle you to appeal to your pride."

"Right, you're going to beat me to get to fight your girl, Kwandao." Vega said, leaning against the railing of the Skybox, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "So let me ask you this. Why are you so intent on beating her?"

And so, Terry told Vega about his introduction to Shadi, the explanation of what Re'-Sha was, who the Guardian's were, the Game of Darkness, what he knew of this 'ultimate weapon', it's connection to the Millennium Puzzle, everything. When he had finished, Vega hadn't moved or said anything. He did open his eyes and stare at the wall opposite him from where was standing.

"And this concerns you how?" was all that Vega asked.

"Huh? Didn't you hear what I said about Re'-Sha?" Terry said.

"I know what you told me. I know what I've seen her do. Do you know what she plans to actually do?"

Terry could not answer. And that really stumped him. For a long time now, he was really fighting to stop something that he totally didn't understand and actually didn't completely know of.

"I can answer that for you." A female voice said. Both Vega and Terry turned toward the stairs and saw Re'-Sha coming up. Terry twisted his face into a scowl, Vega just watched her come up, un-intimidated.

"Why does little ole me need all those shiny gold Millennium Items? Freedom." She said sarcastically in a southern drawl.

"Freedom?" Vega repeated.

"Yes. With all seven items, I can use their combined power to easily reverse my fate, and finally be free of my prison in this damned Millennium Ring. To go touch the gates of heaven…or knock on the doors of hell."

"I don't think so, Anubis left you here on this Earth and you're going to stay here." Terry said, pointing at her.

"Damn Anubis and what he thinks is right." growled Re'-Sha. "You want to know why he banned me from an afterlife and why those priests sealed me away in this thing? Its because he – THEY - fear me, and my other half."

"Other half?" asked Terry.

"Heh, listen to this story, Terry. It's a good one. I can't remember how long ago it was. But it was back when the priests tried to lock me away. They thought putting me away in the Realm of Monsters would solve the problem once and for all. But it didn't work." Then her voice got softer as she further told her story.

"When I first got there, I felt so much anger and pain. I felt betrayed by my own people…I had no one on my side for nothing that I had done wrong…And every minute of every hour that I spent in that realm, I just kept feeding that anger. More and more. And even more. Until it just became something of its own. A powerful beast that couldn't be stopped. That beast consumed me. No, that beast and I became one. An actual monster, one that's used in this game, one that I use, that is completely undefeatable."

"Exodia…" Terry said, nearly in a whisper.

"That's right…Exodia is a creature born of my own emotions. Exodia is my 'other half'. Exodia is my birthright! It's a monster fueled by a lifetime of anger, frustration and sadness in a place where imagination is the greatest power. With it, I could break the barriers between these two worlds and cause even more havoc than ever before. The pharaoh and his court had made things worse for their people. I raided their villages and brought armies of monsters with me to destroy anything we laid eyes on. But then those priests separated my mind and my soul."

"Mind and soul?" asked Terry. "A soul has a mind?"

"A body has two essential things in it to make if live. That's a mind and a heart. A soul, which is nothing more than an evolution of the body, needs a mind and a heart to live as well. Those priests separated my mind, what is here, from my heart and from my soul, my 'body', bringing me back here and leaving Exodia in the Realm of Monsters. When I get all seven items, I'll release myself from this trinket and take back what is rightfully mine, my half Exodia. And I'll use it to bring justice down on all those that opposed me. Annubis. Shadi. Kwandao. And you."

Terry scowled at her. "Justice! You're full of it."

"Hmm…" was all Re'-Sha said.

"You expect pity from me because you told me your sad story and everything. You're not going to get it. You very well could have been a different person before this all happened to you."

Terry walked toward Re'-Sha and stood inches from her face. "But I judge you on your present actions. You killed to get to this tournament. You killed a Guardian for the fun of it. You attacked and injured my friends for pleasure. You converted a friend of mine into something she isn't truly. I feel no pity for you, Re'-Sha. None at all in my entire soul."

"I don't want your pity. Only your life and your Millennium Puzzle. I get rid of you and I won't have anyone left to oppose me." Re'-Sha said, scowling.

"I doubt that." Vega said, reminding everyone he was there. "Because if you do manage to beat Terry, I'll have to defeat you."

Re'-Sha stepped back from Terry's face and looked over at Vega. "I nearly killed you with my Summoned Skull some time ago, Vega. Consider that your warning, don't involve yourself in these affairs. It's my destiny to get Exodia!"

Vega paused a moment, recalling that experience, then he looked at Terry while replying, "Destiny isn't given, it's something that earned and fought for."

With that, Vega slipped past Terry and Re'-Sha and down the exit of the Skybox. Re'-Sha looked at Terry and ran a finger along her throat with a bright smile on her face. Then she too turned and walked out of the Skybox.

_This thing makes more sense now. Especially what Stone told me about the Millennium Items. Re'-Sha got locked in the Realm of Monsters, but there she 'created' Exodia, a part of herself as she says. Her and Exodia as one being? I can only imagine how dangerous and powerful they are together. So they separated them, and locked her mind into the Millennium Ring. _

_But one thing doesn't make sense...Stone also told me that this Millennium Puzzle was the Ancient Egyptian's 'Ultimate Weapon' back then. Pretty soon after Re'-Sha was put into the Millennium Ring. I can guess now that it would have something to do with Exodia, Re'-Sha, or both. But what? What is the connection between Re'-Sha, Exodia and the Millennium Puzzle?_

He realized, somewhat unfortunately, he would have to worry about it later. He needed to get down to the field to play his match against Jamie.

"Well after that brilliant display of rival dragons, the duel's keep getting more and more intense! Let's keep it going for our next duel shall we?"

Sinclair's intro drew a roar from the crowd, who had been entertained well this evening with the duels thus far. The matches had grown in intensity and skill up to this point. Re'-Sha's mastery of using Exodia, Knowledge and Vega's rival Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes, and now the no. 1 ranked duelist was up to the plate.

"Let me introduce the duelists! First, our no. 26 ranked duelist in our tournament. Let's hear it for Jamie Cantou!"

Jamie, still a standout for being so much older than most, saw the smiles on some kids and adults faces as he stood there in the ring. Being the guy he was, he just smiled back and turned to look at his opponent, whom Sinclair was announcing.

"And now, let me introduce our no. 1 ranked duelist in the Upperdeck Battle City Tournament. A consistent threat in the Duel King tournament and one of a few to measure up against Lamar Vega. Duelists, he represents your best! Terry Hairston!"

A roar louder than any that he heard all day went up for Terry and he smiled meekly and waved to the masses of whistles, claps and hollers.

Vega, who was up in the Skybox along with Knowledge, narrowed his eyes at the introduction that Terry got.

Knowledge, however, smiled at that intro because he knew that anything that seemed to say Vega was less of a duelist than he thought he was, he took personally. And something like that could really, really piss him off.

"Well here we are again, me and you, facing off again." Jamie said with a beaming smile.

"Yep, you and I, and unfortunately, I've got no plans to be easy on you man." Terry replied.

"Aw, that's all right. Because you got nothing I haven't seen before. Let's get down to business." Jamie said.

"Bring on the noise!" Terry said.

"Jamie, are you ready?" Sinclair asked. Jamie nodded

"Terry, are you ready?" Terry nodded.

"Duel!" Sinclair announced.

"I'll take the first move." Jamie proclaimed, drawing out six cards from his deck and took a look down at them. _This duel is going to be tough. It won't be easy for me to win. But on the same token, I'm not going to roll over for you, Terry. I know you have to fight Re'-Sha eventually, but lets forget about that now. Let's have fun! Let's make this the best duel that we can possibly!_

Terry, who had drawn his five cards, saw the smile that Jamie had on his face. He smiled inwardly. _Jamie knows me too well. I can see it in that smile, just have fun, he's saying. Not a problem, man. Let's do it!_

* * *

_Like i had said in the beginning, I wanted to develop my characters some. Vega had little face time up until now and since he's a main character, I tried to develop him as much as possible in this chapter without it being too boring or 'all about Vega' or something. I don't want to explain how I see Vega, I hope that through the course of my writing you'll see him as I see him. _

_Also, this upcoming duel between Jamie and Terry. Something i wanted to say about that. But i can't remember. LOL. When i wrote it, i wanted it to have more of the feeling of a friendly but serious rivalry between two friends/rivals. I know that I haven't made Jamie out to be much just yet, but trust me, the guy can play. You'll be seeing that in a new chapter coming up called Terry vs. Jamie: Black Magic. Name sound familiar?_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	24. Terry vs Jamie: Black Magic!

_Disclaimer: Yawn There's my disclaimer if you can read yawns..._

_I seem to have made a mistake in counting my chapters. The site counts this as my 24th chapter but it's my 25th by my count. Adjusted it so its 24 chapters here but i might have just miscounted. I have this story on one big MS Word file on my computer, its tough to look up things that i might need to rewrite and all. _

_But enough on that, new chapter today. The last duel of the Battle City semi's and it's a rematch from the very first duel of this story. But of course, both Terry and Jamie have become a little stronger since that time. _

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 24: Black Magic – Terry vs. Jamie

Jamie had announced he would take the first move and he glanced down at his starting hand, Pitch Black Power Stone, Neo the Magical Swordsman (1700/1000), Sealmaster Meisei (1100/900), Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), Covering Fire, Ready for Intercepting. He wanted to start strong and keep the pressure on against Terry.

"I'll summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode." Jamie said, slapping his card down on his Duel Disk.

Terry absent-mindedly watched the monster materialize on the field, he was wrapped up in a thought. _I didn't know that Jamie was using a Dark Magician..._

Up in the Skybox, Knowledge had the same thought. _I knew that he had shaped his deck around Spellcasters when we tag-dueled against Natasha and Xavier. But I didn't know that he put Dark Magician in that mix. This should make for a good subplot...i wonder if he can take down that Scorpio Dragon that Terry has with Dark Magician..._

"Dark Magician…" Vega said aloud. Knolwedge turned to look at him. Knowledge himself was leaning against the rail looking down on the duel while Vega was leaning against the wall watching with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah?" Knowledge said, wondering what he was getting at.

"Nothing…" Vega said.

_Skilled Dark Magician...Every time that a Spell Card is played, a Spell Counter is equipped to that monster. When it gets three Spell Counters, it can be sacrificed to Special Summon Dark Magician._ Terry was thinking to himself. He looked down into his hand and moved one card to the side a little, his Scorpio Dragon 2950/2500. _But it's not strong enough on it's own to take down Scorpio Dragon._

Jamie spoke up, "I'll set this reverse card and end my turn."

"My turn, draw." Terry said, looking over his own hand, Scorpio Dragon, Familiar Knight (1200/1400), Reload, Goblin Attack Force (2300/0), Ultimate Offering, Double Spell. He grimaced, his hand wasn't very strong right now.

"I'll set this reverse monster and end my turn." Terry said, not letting the poor hand show in his voice.

"My turn. Draw!" Jamie said, pulling his card and holding it. "Hey Terry, what's up man, no monsters to play?"

"Just biding my time, it's just the first turn." Terry said, crossing his arms and smiling.

"Well let's start having fun then. From my hand, I'll play this! Field Magic, Yami!" Jamie popped open the Field Magic Card Zone on his Duel Disk and slid it in. Immediately afterwards, black and purple smoke started to actually rise out of the ground around Jamie. It started swirling around his feet like a tornado and it started expanding and growing higher. It consumed the entire playing field, darkening it and putting a dangerous shadowy look to Jamie's Skilled Dark Magician.

"Yami increases the attack and defense power of all Fiend-Type and Spellcaster-Type monster on the field by 200 points. It also decreases the attack and defense power of any Fairy-Type monster by the same amounts." Jamie explained.

"So your Skilled Dark Magician?" Terry started.

"Exactly, its attack and defense power go up too!" Jamie said.

An Attack Counter noted the change, Skilled Dark Magician was now at (2100/1900). Jamie smiled, and then pointed at Skilled Dark Magician.

"But not only does its attack go up a bit, since that was a Spell Card that I used, a Spell Counter is added to my monster."

A large pendant that was hanging from the monster's neck glowed white for a brief moment then it faded to its normal blue color. That pendant had a metal ring around the outside of it, broken into three sections. One of those sections started blinking white, signifying a Spell Counter.

"Skilled Dark Magician (2100/1900), attack his reverse monster! (?)"

Skilled Dark Magician brought its hand to its chest, two of the fingers pointed vertically and the others tucked, like in a prayer. Terry, through the slight darkness could hear the monster humming and then it started to glow purple. It thrust it's hand out, the two fingers pointing at his reverse monster. The purple glow that was surrounding it's body shot from it's fingers like it was being sucked off of him. The glow surrounded Terry's card and started to burn like a fire for a moment then it exploded at his feet. Jamie, who was watching, saw a monster fade in from the darkness. A knight dressed in silver armor and a flowing red cape.

"That attack lets me use the effect of my Familiar Knight!" Terry exclaimed. "When that monster is destroyed as a result of battle, both duelists can Special Summon a Level 4 monster from their hands."

Terry quickly pulled a card from his selection in his hand, "I'll summon this monster, Goblin Attack Force! (2300/0)"

Jamie groaned quietly to himself, "And I'll summon my Neo the Magical Swordsman (1900/1200)." Neo wasn't strong enough to take down Goblin Attack Force, even with Yami powering it up, and Terry could destroy his key card if he couldn't defend it.

"Running short on monsters?" Jamie said to Terry.

"Excuse me?" Terry said back.

"You're low on monsters." Jamie said, like he was pointing out something.

"It's still early." Terry said.

"Maybe, but I'm gonna make a prediction. I know you fully intend on whipping out that Scorpio Dragon on me." Jamie said, leading him on.

"If it comes to me soon…" Terry said, lying, since he had Scorpio Dragon in his hand right now.

"But it's not going to be strong enough to stop me." Jamie said, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk.

"What?" Terry said, his eyebrow arched.

"One monster, even that strong isn't going to beat me." Jamie replied.

"Well we'll have to see about that when it comes out, huh?"

That was just about the reply Jamie had hoped for. "Yeah, we will."

Terry drew his next card. _Scorpio Dragon is my partner. I'll stick with it until the end. And I'll make sure that it's the monster that gets to take down your deck, Jamie!_

"My move! Goblin Attack Force (2300/0), attack Neo the Magical Swordsman! (1900/1200)"

The team of red-eyed and green fleshed goblins dashed toward Neo, clubs and swords held high. They pounced on the monster and kicked up a circle of dust around themselves. Suddenly, Neo came flying out of it, pretty beat up and landed on its back. The circle of dust, like it had a mind of it's own, just jumped up in the air and landed on Neo, trying to shield itself with it's sword. As soon as the cloud touched Neo, he exploded. The dust didn't stop as it wandered back to Terry's field and finally stood still. Then the dust settled to show a bunch of goblins asleep and lying on top and under each other.

TERRY: 4000

JAMIE: 3600

"Goblin Attack Force is switched to defense mode after the Battle Phase. And I can't change the position until the turn after next." Terry said, smirking at the cartoony way his monster attacked. Jamie couldn't help stifling a laugh too, for the same reason. Terry wasn't too happy inside though. He wanted to take out Skilled Dark Magician but the way his cards were coming, he had to take the more damaging shot. That attack took Jamie down to 3600 Life Points.

"Now I'll play this card from my hand. Spell Card, D.D. Designator!" Terry said.

Jamie cocked his neck. "D.D. Designator?"

"Let's see just how well I know you. D.D. Designator is a special Spell Card. It lets me call out the name of 1 card, Monster, Magic or Trap. If you have that card in your hand right now, I can remove that card from play. But if you don't have that card in your hand, you can randomly select one card from my hand and remove it from play."

Terry hoped that his instincts were guiding him right, because it would cost him a hand card if he was wrong. He stared at Jamie, hoping to pick up something but it didn't help. He could find anything if he didn't know what to look for there. He took a deep breath and pointed at Jamie's hand as he announced his selection.

"Dark Magician!"

All eyes went to Jamie. He looked down at his hand then back up into Terry's gaze as he turned his hand over to him. Terry looked down to his horrible realization that there wasn't one there. His stomach sunk.

"I have NO Dark Magician in my hand." Jamie announced for everyone.

Terry slipped all his hand cards into his Spell/Trap Zone slots and Jamie saw five cards appear on the ground below Terry's feet. The goblins had disappeared from the field temporarily.

"Those are my hand cards, choose." Terry said.

Jamie didn't waste time trying to think about it. "Alright, I'll choose…" he rose his hand in the air with a finger extended, "That card!"

Jamie pointed to the left-most card, Terry's left, on the field. Terry, who didn't even look at his cards as he set them on the field, flipped the card vertically on the field so everyone could see his selection. And he was terrified.

"The card I chose was Scorpio Dragon!" Jamie said cheerfully. He pumped his fist in the air but Terry stood there dumbstruck. The whole crowd however, at least the ones that knew just how rare an X Card like Scorpio Dragon was, were in an uproar that Terry even had one.

Knowledge and Vega were interested too.

"Terry…" Knowledge said to himself.

"Without Scorpio Dragon, just how good is he?" Vega said. Knowledge wondered if he was asking him or just talking to himself. He decided to answer anyway.

"He has more than just that dragon, I'm sure of it. He isn't the best for nothing." Knowledge said.

Vega narrowed his eyes and leaned back more against the wall. "Without the dragon, let's see if he really is the best."

Terry took the rest of his card back into his hand but took Scorpio Dragon and placed it in his graveyard, face down. Signifying that he couldn't use it again. Terry stood in that position for a moment. Almost like he channeled Vega's thoughts…

_I've been riding the back of Scorpio Dragon since I got it. I won't deny that it's my favorite card but I do have other strong monsters and strategies to use. Thanks Jamie, you got rid of my partner but it will be fun to see how strong I am now without it._

With a determined look and a renewed spirit to challenge himself and his opponent, Terry ended his turn.

"My turn, draw." Jamie said, and then pointed to his Skilled Dark Magician. "Terry, because you played D.D. Designator, another Spell Counter has been added to my monster, adding the count to 2."

"Just one more to go…" Terry said under his breath.

"And I have that last one! Set Card, Open! Pitch-Black Power Stone!"

Jamie flipped his Trap Card up and the emblem that was on the card popped out of it after the whole card glowed white for a moment. The black sphere with a triangle in the center with half circles on the three tips was glowing white. One of the tips of the triangle stopped glowing and then a small white orb floated onto the field.

"Pitch-Black Power Stone. When this Trap Card is activated, it is equipped with three Spell Counters that I can move to a card that I can put a counter on. But I can only move one per turn. But one is enough! I'll use one counter and move it to my Skilled Dark Magician giving it three Spell Counters!"

Skilled Dark Magician's pendant glowed totally white for a brief moment then it turned blue. The monster raised its staff in the air and the same blue light came from the top of his staff. The whole monster was covered with the blue light.

"And now I activate the effect of Skilled Dark Magician! When it has three Spell Counters on it, I can sacrifice it to Special Summon 1 Black Magician!"

"The master of magicians, the strongest of the Spellcasters, my partner! Black Magician! (2500/2100)"

The blue light moved to the center of the field and then exploded so suddenly, Terry took a step back and blocked his eyes from the light. When he lowered his hands from blocking, he saw a human wizard dressed in all purple with an almost football like shoulder pads if you could call them that. His face was set in stone with deep green eyes and a green scepter that he was holding. The Dark Magician (2500/2100).

"Dark Magician…" Terry said to himself.

"No. **_Black_** Magician." Jamie corrected. "I'll use its original name."

Terry laughed. "OK, Black Magician it is. And even though it's your partner, I'm not going to lose to it."

Jamie smiled. "As you might say, 'Bring on the noise!'" Jamie then turned his head toward his hand cards as he continued to talk. "But my turn isn't over yet, I still haven't made a Normal Summon for this turn. So I'll summon Sealmaster Meisei (1300/1100) in attack mode!"

Jamie pointed at Terry's parade of sleeping goblins. "Sealmaster Meisei (1300/1100) attack Goblin Attack Force! (2300/0)"

Sealmaster, who had its eyes closed, opened them and showed off his completely yellow eyes. If you could call them that. He made a grand gesture with his hands, like a kata, and in one move, swung his arm in a wide arc across his body. A near invisible sickle came from that swipe, connected with Goblin Attack Force, lifted them up in the air, much like they were caught in a tornado asleep, until they disappeared from sight. Terry stifled a laugh and tried not to think of the Wizard of Oz at the sight.

"Now, Black Magician (2700/2300) attack Terry directly!"

Black Magician clenched its staff in both of its hands. The staff, at it's tip, started to collect small shrouds of purple and black from the darkened field thanks to Jamie's Yami Field Spell.

"Black Magician! Black Magic!" Jamie called out.

The magician twirled its staff in its hands with trails of 'smoke' coming from the orb on the top. They trailed as he spun the staff creating a net of white strands of vapor. Then it pointed it at Terry and a white beam shot out from it, kicking the strands of smoke away from the path the beam was taking. Looking at the beam, you could see anything that it was passing over, but it showed it in a negative. But there was nothing positive about the attack when it hit on Terry. He couldn't stand up to the force and got knocked backwards right on his back. He lifted himself up onto his elbows.

TERRY: 1300

JAMIE: 3600

"That hurt…" Terry mumbled. He rolled his arm that had his Duel Disk attached to see that his Life Points had dropped down to 1300.

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn there." Jamie said.

Terry got back up, dusted off his pants and stretched for a minute all the while silent. When he looked up in the Skybox, he saw Knowledge looking down with a concerned look on his face.

"Not a problem!" Terry called over to his friend and gave him a thumbs up. Knowledge smiled and just shook his head. Terry saw him mouth the word, 'idiot', at him. He turned to Jamie again.

"Not bad." Terry said.

"Thanks."

"You know I'm going to have to get you back for that one, right?" Terry said with menace in his voice but a grin on his face.

Jamie brought his Duel Disk up to his chest like a shield, "If you can do it, do it!"

"My turn! Draw!" Terry said. _Black Magician and Sealmaster Meisei with Yami attached. I don't have a card in my hand that can take down either monster. With the exception of Scorpio Dragon, my deck has mainly Warrior-Types. Time to up the ante!_

"I'll set one reverse card, then play this. Quick-Play Spell Card, Reload."

Jamie nodded.

"Reload allows me to add my cards in my hand back to my deck and draw the same number from it after it's shuffled." Terry said, adding his three cards back to his deck. Terry made a quick shuffle then redrew three cards from his deck. He picked one out from them.

"I'll set one reverse monster and end my turn there." Terry said.

Jamie frowned slightly. _Is he really not getting any cards?_ But that look that Terry gave him told him Terry had plenty of something. He wasn't giving up and that's just what Jamie wanted.

"Alright, my turn. Draw!" Jamie said. He pointed at Terry. "You said you'd make this fun so don't disappoint me by losing now! Sealmaster Meisei! (1300/1100) Attack!"

"Heh, got you!" Terry said, clenching his open hand into a fist. "Reveal my monster! Cyber Jar! (900/900)"

Terry's card, just as the attack from Sealmaster Meisei went into the air, flipped over and the small silver space pod appeared on the field. It hummed for a moment, not doing anything then it glowed white and floated out to the middle of the field. Sealmaster's attack met it there and the monster exploded. White light filled Jamie and Terry's eyes and the force of the blast knocked the purple haze of the Field Spell off the field for a moment. After the explosion cleared, both duelists field had no monsters and the field was it's normal color but it began to darken again as the haze began to move to again cover the center of the field.

"Cyber Jar's Flip Effect is when its flipped, all monsters on the field are destroyed. Which includes Cyber Jar itself, but more importantly, your Sealmaster Meisei and Black Magician."

Jamie glanced down at his set card on his field. _Too bad Black Magician won't be off the field long, heh._

"Both players can draw 5 cards from their decks and Special Summon any Level 4 monsters or lower to their field in either attack mode or face down defense mode." Jamie finished for Terry.

Terry had drawn his five and Jamie had too. They both nodded to each other at the same time and then showed each other their cards they had drawn. Jamie's cards were Dedication Through Light and Darkness, Yami, Pot of Greed, Gemini Elf (1900/900) and Premature Burial. Just one monster and 4 Spell Cards.

Terry fared a little better. He drew Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200), Big Shield Guardna (100/2600), Lightforce Sword, Graceful Charity and Painful Choice. He looked at his Painful Choice and was glad to have drawn it, it would help out immensely. Terry added the three non-monster cards to his hand and then put both of his monsters out in face down defense mode. Jamie set his Gemini Elf (2100/1100) out in attack mode and it got a power boost from the Field Spell still on the field.

"My Battle Phase is over but it's still my move. Terry, didn't you know that magicians were full of tricks?"

"Tricks?" Terry said, puzzled.

"Yeah, just when you think you got them…" Jamie trailed off, but Terry saw one of his set cards jump up vertically. He couldn't read it before that card flashed and in the blink of an eye, Black Magician was on the field. Again!

"What! He revived his Black Magician?" Terry exclaimed to himself.

"I activated my Trap Card, Miracle Restoring. Miracle Restoring lets me Special Summon Black Magician or Buster Blader from my graveyard at the cost of 2 Spell Counters. But I'll Special Summon it in defense mode." Jamie said, beaming at his monster.

"Two Spell Counters? Then the ones from your Pitch-Black Power Stone?" Terry said.

"That's right. I used them to activate my Miracle Restoring. But now that it has no more Counters on it, it is destroyed." And just as he said it, the other Trap Card that was face up on Jamie's field burst into pieces. "Then I'll set four reverse cards and end my turn."

Terry exhaled loudly and drew his card, glanced at it, and started thinking to himself. _Funny, I destroyed Black Magician only to have it revived and now with some cards that can back him up. I noticed Polymerization in the cards that Jamie had from the effect of Cyber Jar. Chances are good that he might have a Buster Blader in his deck to fuse with his magician._

Jamie was looking at Terry wondering what he was up to. _Man, I didn't think Terry was this tough. I took out most of his Life Points and he took my main monster away from me in one turn. But I did get rid of his Scorpio Dragon. I just feel...excited to play this kind of match! Come on, Terry, show me just what you can do! _

"Alright, I'll play this Spell Card. Painful Choice!" Terry said. "I can select 5 cards from my deck and show them to you, Jamie."

"Then I can select one card from them for you to keep and the rest go to the graveyard." Jamie finished. "Lets see what you're up to."

Terry smiled to himself as he rifled through his deck looking for the cards he wanted to bring out to begin with. He took his five cards and held them to the side as he made a quick shuffle of his deck and then set his deck back in the Duel Disk. He fanned the cards out and showed them to Jamie.

"Axe of Despair, Dragonic Attack, Metallizing Parasite - Lunatite, Autonomous Action Unit, and Warrior: Dai Greyfar?" Knowledge said with some obvious doubt in his voice. "Just what is he trying to do down there?"

"I see…" Vega said, who had moved away from the wall and was along the railing near Knowledge. "He's preparing something for the future."

"Preparing what?" Knowledge asked.

"You ought to know better than I would. You've seen him duel before." Vega said.

Knowledge admitted that was right, but he couldn't figure out what he was trying to set up. It had to have something to do with those cards but he couldn't think of a 'common denominator'.

Jamie wasn't thinking as hard as Knowledge was. He saw only one card that Terry couldn't use.

"OK, you can keep Autonomous Action Unit." Jamie said.

Terry took that card and added it to his hand then slipped the rest into his graveyard. But he had a small, very small smirk in the corner of his mouth. _Got one part of my plan set up, now I gotta draw some more cards..._

"Alrighty, now I'll play another Spell Card, Graceful Charity! Graceful Charity lets me draw 3 cards from my deck…" Terry did as he said, "But I have to discard 2 to the graveyard."

Terry took his Autonomous Action Unit and Ojama Trio and discarded them. He picked up two cards from his hand and with a broad smile right at Jamie like a slap to his face.

"I'll set two reverse cards and end my turn."

Jamie scowled. He knew Terry was up to something. He had that look in his eye. That little smile that never went away. That very smirk that preceded his miracles. "My turn. Draw!" He looked at his card, blinked, then smiled himself.

"Hey Terry, I just drew a killer card."

Terry moaned to himself on the inside. _Just what I don't need to hear..._

"And with this card, I think this duel…is over!" Jamie said, holding his card high in the air.

* * *

_It's nice to see that this story is getting more reviews and it seems like there are more people at least clicking onto this story. Though at this point, i'd like a review that goes into detail about how i've crafted this story so far. A critique you know. I can handle my work being called trash if that's what it is. I make my living as a chef, i know about work looking like trash. >:D_

_Well, i've got the main idea of this sequel kinda planned out in my head though im deciding on what way i want to take it. One way is something i explored previously in this story and another is one that i would like to write about personally. We'll just see. _

_Well, the rematch has started and Jamie has something up his sleeve that might just cut Terry's journey short. You'll just have to read the next chapter to find out what it is and if it works. Then, something you might have been offhand wondering. With six duelists vying for three spots, just how will the finals work out? Who's going to duel who? Those answers are coming soon but not before we conclude this duel! Check around for Warriors coming soon. _

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	25. Warriors

_Disclaimer: Alfred Kahn, I hate you for even taking this anime and destroying it! If i can't take it from you, i can slander you or something! lol..._

_Anyway, it's been a while since i updated. I'm just coming off of working 12 days straight. I haven't been this tired in ages. So i decided to knock this up on the internet before i pass out. We reach the conclusion of Terry's duel against Jamie. And the conclusion might be very close as Jamie has drawn something that might have won him the duel!_

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 33: Warriors

Jamie had just predicted that this turn is the end of the duel for Terry. Terry felt his muscles tighten up from nervousness and anxiousness. And even from anticipation. If Jamie thought he was going to win, he wasn't going to let him without some noise!

"First, Set Card, Open! Book of Taiyou!"

"Book of Taiyou!" Terry exclaimed. "That card, it can change face-down monsters to attack mode!" He thought quickly to himself. _I have only my Big Shield Guardna and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in reverse._

"That's right!" Jamie said. He watched his Spell Card disappear from the field but a small book with a delicate and almost gold looking cover took its place. It started glowing in an orange and red hue. That kept up for another moment then the book opened by itself and that hue turned into a beam that hit on one of the reverse monsters on Terry's field. It started to turn itself over but then the beam from the book to the card started wavering and moving. Then the beam just shattered like it was glass.

"What was that?" Jamie said.

"Oh I think I know." Terry said, flipping the targeted monster face up but still in defense mode on his Duel Disk, his Big Shield Gardna (100/2600).

"One effect of Big Shield Gardna is that when it's targeted with the effect of a Spell Card, it is automatically negated."

"Set Card, Open!" Jamie called out, pointing to another face down card on his field. "Zero Gravity!"

When that Trap Card came up on the field, all the monsters on the field started glowing in a green glow and lifted from the ground and hovered in the air. They all struggled against the air and tried to right themselves as they danced around.

"What did you do, Jamie?" Terry demanded, watching his Big Shield Gardna waver in the air.

"Zero Gravity changes the battle positions of all the face up monsters on the field. And since it's not a Spell Card, it CAN affect your Big Shield Gardna!"

Terry growled under his breath. _So that's why he Special Summoned his Black Magician in defense mode on the last turn. So now my Big Shield Gardna is in attack mode as well as Jamie's Black Magician. But the Gemini Elf is in defense mode now._

"And now, I'll show you the card that's gonna win me this duel! I'll play the Spell Card, Diffusion-Wave Motion!"

Jamie slapped his card into his Duel Disk and watched Black Magician raise its staff in the air and it started crackling with dark energy. A small ball of it started collecting at the tip and it grew bigger and bigger.

TERRY: 1300

JAMIE: 2600

"At the cost of 1000 Life Points…" Jamie started, showing Terry his Duel Disk counting his Life Points down to 2600, "I can use one of my Level 7 or higher Spellcaster-Type monsters to attack all the monsters on your side of the field!"

_If Jamie connects with that attack, Terry is going to lose..._ Vega thought to himself. _But he's better than that. Terry isn't going to lose here._

"Black Magician, Diffusion Black Magic!"

The sphere of energy that was forming stopped getting larger and it just stood on the tip of Black Magician's staff. He jumped up in the air and aimed the staff at Terry's two monsters. It shot off, screaming toward his field, a trail of purple flying behind it like a comet. Jamie watched and watched, completely taken in by the power of his monster. Then it smashed into the ground in front of Terry's monsters and the sphere let out sickles of black and purple that flew out of the area where it smashed. They sliced through Gardna's shield easily and it and the monster exploded. The reverse monster which was turned face up from the attack wasn't as easy to put away. Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) was deflecting the sickles, swatting them like baseballs, with it's sword as soon as they came near. They clanged against its sword then went spinning away off in the darkness of the Field Magic Yami. Then they stopped coming and the field was still with silence. Big Shield Gardna was destroyed and that attack should have taken Terry's Life Points to 0. Terry spoke from his side of the field, his arms crossed.

"The attack from Black Magician takes my Life Points to 0, but at that moment, Reverse Card, Open!"

A Trap Card flipped up on the field, and Jamie recognized it immediately. "Nutrient Z?"

"Exactly. This card can only be activated during your Damage Step. If I take 2000 or more points of damage in this turn, I can increase my Life Points by 4000 before the damage is deducted from my Life Points. Therefore, my Life Points were originally at 1300. Then adding 4000 takes it to 5300 then subtracting the damage reduces it to 2700."

TERRY: 2700

JAMIE: 2600

Jamie praised him silently, but he had actually hoped the game wasn't over yet. He hadn't even played some of his other favorites yet.

"So what's up Jamie? You haven't beaten me yet and I'm still standing strong." Terry said, arms still crossed and taunting.

"How long do you think you'll be standing?" Jamie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Just how long do you think you're gonna 'stall' for? I'm gonna get you eventually and I'm pretty patient. It something that magicians are good at, being patient and springing surprises."

"So you have another surprise?" Terry asked, the tone daring Jamie to bring it even harder to him.

Jamie didn't answer, he took a card from his hand. "I'll sacrifice my Gemini Elf to summon Black Magician Girl 2000/1700 in attack mode!"

The Gemini Elf twins started glowing white and then the two of them just became white silhouettes and shrunk into a pair of white dots. An image of the Black Magician Girl card appeared behind the dots and they zipped into it. Then the girl on the card spiraled out of it, spinning with her little wand and long flowing blonde hair and odd but scantily clad costume. She floated down toward Black Magician, looked up at it and winked at him. The Black Magician, stone-faced but a very tiny smile on his face, nodded at its pupil then turned toward Terry. Black Magician Girl followed suit and put the same expression as her teacher on her face and faced her opponent.

"Black Magican Girl!" Terry howled.

"Yep, and from the effect of Yami, her stats go up to (2200/1900), but to one up THAT, Set Card Open! Dedication Through Light and Darkness!"

The Quick-Play Spell Card flipped up and Black Magician's eyes changed from green to red and stabbed his staff in the ground. A bluish-white light came from Jamie's Spell Card and hit on Black Magician's staff. It turned slowly from the one of the Black Magician to the one used by Black Magician of Chaos. Black Magician grasped it and as soon as he touched it, his hand started to turn black, then his forearm then his entire arm. It continued like that as his whole body transformed until it was complete, he became the Black Magician of Chaos. It took the staff out of the ground and held it firmly in its hand, horizontally and in front of his chest.

"Tch…" Terry growled under his breath.

"Dedication Through Light and Darkness lets me sacrifice one Black Magician to Special Summon one Black Magician of Chaos from my deck, hand or graveyard. But now that one Black Magician is in the graveyard, Black Magician Girl's effect is activated. Whenever a Black Magician or Magician of Black Chaos is in either of our graveyards, her attack power goes up by 300 points."

Two Attack/Defense Counters appeared next to Jamie's two monsters, showing Black Magician of Chaos stats at (3000/2800), thanks to Yami and Black Magician Girl at (2500/1900).

Jamie had turned his Duel Disk so it was pointing vertically,theface of it facing Terry,and a card was ejecting out of the graveyard as he started speaking again. "Also, I can use the special effect of Black Magician of Chaos. When it's Normal or Special Summoned, I can take one Spell Card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. And I'll choose my Diffusion-Wave Motion."

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn." Jamie said, incidentally not the one he just got from his graveyard with complete confidence in his voice.

Terry wasn't nearly as confident. He was really in trouble. He never guessed that Jamie's deck was this strong and overwhelming. It was a lot stronger than what he faced before. Jamie had his Black Magician Girl and Black Magician of Chaos on the field with 1 reverse card on the field. But he only had his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in defense mode and two reverse cards on his field. His Guardian could keep him safe but if he couldn't draw up an offense, the game is over. He looked down at his deck, staring at the top card on it.

"Jamie." Terry said, his head still hanging and staring at his deck. "This one card on the top of my deck? I will bet everything on it."

"Really, now! And if you draw nothing?"

Terry didn't answer immediately. He lowered the hand he was holding his hand cards in to rest on the top of his Millennium Puzzle. He drew in a long breath then let it out equally slow.

"I – I won't. I will draw the game changing card. Right here." He placed two fingers on the top card. "And right now!" He ripped that card from his deck and placed it to his side, pointing upward with the back facing Jamie. Terry looked over at the card.

And he smiled.

"Jamie, all the pieces of the puzzle have come to my hand!"

Jamie was silent but interested. Terry had something but whatever he had wouldn't be able to topple his magicians. Or would it? _Don't keep me in suspense, Terry. Show me all you got!_

"For this turn, I'll summon my Marauding Captain (1200/400) in attack mode!"

After the card appeared on the field, a blonde haired armor clad warrior appeared on the field, clenching two different styled swords in each hand. A tattered cape was attached to the collarline of its armor.

"Marauding Captain has two special effects. One is that when it is Normal Summoned to the field, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster from my hand to the field."

Terry picked a card from his hand and slapped it on his Duel Disk. Both of them watched Gear Freed (1800/1600) appear on the field in a defense position, crouched on one knee with its shield and sword crossed at the front.

"That's your key card?" Jamie asked.

"No. Neither is this. Reverse Card, Open! Ultimate Offering!"

"Tch…" Jamie grunted.

"Ultimate Offering lets me have an extra Normal Summon so long as I pay 500 Life Points per summon. So I'll use that effect to buy another Normal Summon and sacrifice my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Gear Freed!"

TERRY: 2200

JAMIE: 2600

Terry's monsters turned into white silhouettes of themselves and floated to the middle of the field with their backs to each other. The figures started spinning, faster and faster until they just looked like a spinning tube of light. Suddenly, that light shot off up into the sky and for a moment, nothing was happening. Then in the light, Jamie could see something descending in it. Whatever it was looked human in form, with arms and legs, though they were huge. But there was, well what had to be, a massive sword in one of that figures hands. It kept descending until it lightly touched down on the ground and the light dissipated. Jamie could make out details now. The man, which he had guessed right, was indeed huge, with a grand sword. But he wore black armor and a black cape that covered a lot of the rest. What more that Jamie could see was a flowing red mane of hair that led up to a face that was concealed in a mask with two horns jutting out of it.

"That – that's…" Jamie said.

"Heh heh, descent of the warrior that surpassed Lightning, I summon Gilford the Legend! (2600/2000)"

* * *

Re'-Sha, watching and noting Terry's moves, obviously noticed Gilford. It's other incarnation, Gilford the Lightning played a great part in the defeat she suffered when she dueled Terry previously. Her teeth ground together remembering that but she went on dutifully observing. 

She turned toward Jamie and remembered back to when she had visited him when she attacked him with a Summoned Skull. At the moment, she had just wanted to get Terry angry, piss him off, torture his heart by hurting him.

Then there was the time when she saw him in the hospital and gave him the 5 Puzzle Cards. She did it because of the reasons she gave him. She would love to see Terry suffer. And her plans for the eventual Game of Darkness between her and Terry would be sure to include Jamie. As well as his other friend, Knowledge. Terry would do anything to stop her, but just how far would he go when his friends would be at risk?

Oh she just couldn't wait until the final duel.

* * *

"I summoned my Gilford the Legend and at this moment, I'll use its special effect!" Terry said. 

On cue, Gilford took its massive sword in one hand and thrust it into the air. The ground around him started shaking and crumbling. And then three cards rose from the earth and surrounded Gilford in a semicircle. Their backs were to Jamie and they turned to face him one at a time. The three cards were Autonomous Action Unit, Axe of Despair and Dragonic Attack.

"What are you up to, Terry?"

"Gilford the Legend's special effect. When it's Normal Summoned to the field, I can equip as many Equip Spell Cards to Warrior-Type monsters on my field. In my graveyard, I have these three Equip Spell Cards. So I choose to equip Gilford the Legend with Dragonic Attack and I'll equip Marauding Captain with Axe of Despair."

The two cards out of the three that Terry had chosen floated behind the monsters that he had selected. Marauding Captain's stats changed to (2200/400) and he exchanged his dual swords for the disfigured and demonic axe. Gilford, however, lowered it sword and turned it so it pointed toward Jamie. The Dragonic Attack card started shrinking and shrinking, floated above the sword and set itself down on the black middle part of its weapon. The sword glowed green for a moment then an Attack Counter showed it's stats at (3100/2500).

_Autonomous Action Unit is an Equip Spell Card but it's a card that can only be equipped to monsters out of my graveyard. _Jamie thought to himself.

Terry could look at his friend and knew something wasn't right. Something just felt off. Something he could see in his body language told him he wasn't too nervous about Gilford. But he couldn't ignore this oppourtunity!

"I'll set one reverse card. Gilford the Legend (3100/2500), attack Black Magician of Chaos! (3000/2800)" Terry exclaimed.

Gilford, who still had its sword pointed at Jamie's field swung it over its head, shot forward off its trailing foot and glided across the field toward Jamie's Chaos Magician. But that didn't worry Jamie at all.

"Set Card, Open! Ready for Intercepting!" Jamie said, swinging his arm toward the flipped Trap Card on his field.

Just as the card flipped up, Gilford, still dashing toward Jamie's monsters, started to flash white and its normal colors. Then it just vanished and a face-down monster card appeared on Terry's field.

"Jamie…you know me well." Terry said, running a hand through his hair and exhaling loudly.

"You like that one, huh?" Jamie said.

"Ready for Intercepting can flip one Warrior-Type or Spellcaster-Type monster on the field from whatever position it's in to face down defense position. Perfect weapon and/or quick defense." Terry said.

_And in my next turn, with your Gilford in face-down defense mode, I'll attack it with Black Magician of Chaos and get rid of your 'key' card. Not only can Gilford the Legend NOT be Special Summoned, Black Magician of Chaos' special effect removes any monster it destroys through battle from the game._

"But my turn isn't over! Gilford is going to be the monster that helps take down your magicians! Reverse Card, Open! Double Spell!"

Terry explained Double Spell's effect of being able to use one of his opponent's Spell Cards from their graveyard as his own at the cost of 1 Spell Card from his hand. Jamie and obviously Terry noticed that that card was the last one in his hand. He had no more cards in his hand. Jamie looked down at his Duel Disk and wondered what card Terry could want from his graveyard. He couldn't think of one that could help his situation now.

"The card that I choose is…" Terry trailed off as his Double Spell card started changing. The picture part, the name and the description faded away until it was just a green card on the field. Then the card that Terry chose started to materialize on the name, description and picture parts of the Spell Card. Terry smiled watching Jamie's surprised look and then the look of acceptance.

"I chose your Book of Taiyou Spell Card. Book of Taiyou flips one face down monster into face up attack position. So I choose to change my face down Gilford the Legend back to attack mode!"

The face down monster card on Terry's field flipped itself over and slowly the body of Gilford started rising out of it, staring through its mask straight at the dual magicians on Jamie's field.

"Using that Spell Card ended my Battle Phase so I'll end my turn." Terry said, crossing his arms and awaiting Jamie's next move.

"My turn! Draw!"

Jamie remembered the other effect of Marauding Captain. That as long as its on the field, he cant attack any other Warrior-Type monsters on Terry's field. So he had to go. "Black Magician of Chaos (3000/2800) attack Marauding Captain! (2200/400)"

Black Magician of Chaos raised its staff in the air and then, one handed, tossed it like a spear at the ground near Marauding Captain. Yellow light started to seep out of the crystal on the top of the staff and casted a shadow in the direction of Marauding Captain. The shadow got larger and became wider than Terry's monster and it started to disappear into that shadow. It didn't take long for it to completely disappear and then the light started to slowly fade. Black Magician of Chaos walked over toward its staff, pulled it from the ground and seemed to glare right at Terry before it returned to its side of the field. Terry heard his Life Counter ticking and knew before it finished deducting that he was at 1400 Life Points.

TERRY: 1400

JAMIE: 2600

"Black Magician of Chaos removes any monster it battles, that would normally go to the graveyard, from the game instead. I'll set two reverse cards and end my turn there."

"My turn! Draw!" Terry said, looking at his drawn card.

"Got anything there?" Jamie asked.

"Hope." Terry said truthfully and matter-of-factly.

"Hope?"

"Yeah, in the form of this Spell Card. I'll play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards from my deck."

Terry took a deep breath. He needed another powerful card to help him over this new hump. This duo of magicians. Black Magician Girl (2500/1900) and Black Magician of Chaos (3000/2800) and with two reverse cards on the field. Terry didn't want to admit it but Jamie had been in control of this duel since the first cards were played.

But that didn't matter now. All it takes is one turn in a duel. That's all it takes. One turn and you can completely change the game. He pinched the top two cards from his deck and drew them, looking at them as they passed his face.

"I'll set one card. Then ill play this. Equip Spell Card, Nitro Unit!"

"Nitro Unit?" Jamie questioned. Before he could say anything else, a gray rectangular 'backpack' with some tubes with blue fluid flowing through it appeared on Terry's field. It just hovered there as he spoke.

"Nitro Unit, like any Equip Spell Card, can be placed on my monsters as well as yours. So this one is all yours Jamie! I'll equip it to Black Magician of Chaos!"

"What are you up to?" Jamie asked, getting nervous.

"Nitro Unit is a unique Equip Card. It ONLY can be equipped to my opponent's monsters. In addition to any battle damage incurred when the equipped monster is destroyed in battle, my opponent loses Life Points equal to that destroyed monster's Attack Points."

"What!"

"Oh yes!" Terry pointed toward Jamie's monster. "Gilford-"

"Set Card, Open!" Jamie rushed. "Shift!"

The unit that had been placed on Black Magician of Chaos' chest floated away from him and hung in the middle of Jamie's field.

"Shift is a Trap Card that lets me choose the target of any attack or Spell and Trap effect by my opponent. It lets me shift it to another monster on my field, so I choose my Black Magician Girl!"

"It's not that easy! Reverse Card, Open! Tailor of the Fickle!"

"Tch…damnit!" Jamie growled.

"Tailor of the Fickle lets me change one Equip Card to another monster. So I'll send it back to your Black Magician of Chaos!"

Both duelists only had one more reverse card on their fields. Jamie saw Gilford coming for his monster just like it had on the last turn. And again, he was going to stop it cold.

"Terry, you've tried three times to get my monsters with Gilford. It's not going to happen, kid!" Jamie said smiling.

Terry replied, "Gotta keep trying. Maybe I'll get you eventually."

"Well, kiss that thought good-bye! Set Card, Open! Blast Held by a Tribute!"

Jamie's card flipped up on the field but as soon as it turned up, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck it and it exploded. Jamie jumped at that and stood on his field wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"What tha?" he stammered.

Terry had his head slightly lowered. "When you activated that Trap Card, I activated mine."

"What card?" Jamie said, looking at his field for it. He didn't see it but on an impulse, he looked up and saw…God. A gray bearded man with a yellow robe but he was glowing with a blue and white aura around him. Individual beams of light criss-crossed down to the ground behind him. His face was gentle but the finger that was pointing at Jamie and the look on that gentle face made him take notice of the floating 'man'.

"What Trap Card is that?" Jamie asked, mesmerized.

"That's my Solemn Judgment card. With this Counter Trap Card, I can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap Card or a Flip Summon, Normal Summon or Special Summon of a monster and destroy them." He showed Jamie the Life Counter on his Duel Disk, which ticked down to 700. "At the cost of half of my Life Points."

TERRY: 700

JAMIE: 2600

Jamie was quiet for a moment. He didn't say anything. He brought his attention back to his monster. Black Magician of Chaos held its staff in both of its hands and raised it up to block the sword of Gilford. Gilford's sword came down with a loud, hard clang that rung through the field. Both monsters were face to face and for the briefest second, Jamie would swear he saw his monster and Terry's monster, both engaged in a battle, smile. Then Gilford brought it's sword up again and slammed it against the staff but it didn't hold this time as it went through it. The sword came down but didn't hit the magician but rather the Nitro Unit on its chest. As soon as it cut through, a discharge of yellow, white and red fire shot from where the monsters were. It was a pretty fast burn because there was nothing left of the fire after maybe three seconds. All that was there was Gilford, still standing with its sword in hand slung over its shoulder

TERRY: 700

JAMIE: 0

"And the winner is Terry Hairston!" Sinclair announced on the speakers, leading the crowd into an all out roar of approval over the duel that they just witnessed and the exciting ending to it. Jamie and Terry met in the middle of the field, shook hands and embraced in a quick hug. Jamie then took Terry's arm and raised it. Everyone in the crowd got louder than they were at that point and started stamping their feet to the chant of "Terr-y, Terr-y, Terr-y!"

"Just what I expected out of you man!" Jamie yelled over the cheering.

"You surprised me, Jamie! You're a lot stronger than I thought!" Terry said, arm still raised in the air.

"I can say with all honesty that was the best duel of my life!" Jamie hollered.

* * *

Up in the Skybox, Vega watched the crowd cheer Terry. But Vega wasn't in nearly such a cheerful mood. His face was cast in stone. _I knew that's how this duel was going to end. Terry cant lose until he gets to me, then I'll be the one to destroy him._

"You're not going to beat him." Knowledge said, already knowing what Vega was thinking.

"I'm what?" Vega said back to him. "Not going to beat him?"

"Yeah."

"You're right, like I was just thinking to myself, I'm going to destroy him."

Knowledge chuckled. "His deck is strong, his skills are sharp, his comprehension of the game is remarkable. I see all that in you too, Vega, in equal levels. But your problem…"

Knowledge got up from the ledge, not smiling anymore and not even looking at Vega as he headed for the stairs slowly. "Your problem is that you're blinding yourself. You can't see past your goal at the end of the road. You're so intent on Terry and you title that you think you'll crush anyone that gets in your way."

"Like I did to you." Vega remarked.

Knowledge stopped, but didn't turn to face him. "Yeah, that's true. But you still keep thinking that you're going to beat anyone. No one can touch you. That's a real arrogant view, Vega. And that attitude, that mindset, is what's going to do you in." Knowledge left the Skybox.

_For his sake, I hope he listens for once. But I've washed my hands of that. I have something I want to take care of. I remember what Terry said about these Millennium Items...But I don't care. I will have vengeance for what she did to Janet. And Jamie. And Terry. And especially me._

Knowledge looked at the backside of Re'-Sha and reached into his pocket to touch the Millennium Eye he snatched from Terry's bag.

* * *

Terry and Jamie had walked back to the tent they had occupied before when Knowledge was hurt. Both of them were smiling like they had both won their duel. 

"Man, that was a great duel." Jamie said sitting down in a chair.

"I thought you had me with that Diffusion Wave-Motion." Terry remarked.

"And that Gilford the Legend was just the perfect card at the perfect time." Jamie said. Knowledge stepped in the tent just at that moment.

"Hey, speaking of perfect timing." Terry said, patting Knowledge on his back as he passed by him. Knowledge turned and leaned against a table that was near where Jamie was sitting. Terry leaned against a post holding the tent up.

"So Terry, I had a question for you." Knowledge said. Just as he was about to speak again, Vega walked into the tent followed closely by Re'-Sha. Knowledge snapped his mouth shut and stared at Re'-Sha as she slithered across the ground. She stood near the entrance to the tent while Vega took a seat in another chair on the other end of the table Knowledge was leaning against. Nobody took a lot of notice of Vega, all eyes were on Re'-Sha since she was now disliked, or hated, by everyone in that tent.

"Can I help you with something?" asked Knowledge.

"No." she said coldly.

"Then leave." Knowledge said, equally as cold.

"I'm not ready to leave yet." Re'-Sha said.

"But you're ready to duel though, right?" Sinclair said in a perky voice, half his body sticking into the tent. "I just wanted to talk to my finalists about how the rest of the tournament is going to work."

"That's just what I was about to ask about." Knowledge said.

"Well, like you may know, this tournament structure is different. Instead of an even number of duelists going to the finals, there is an odd number. And to make this tournament more interesting, this is how it will work. One of you will be guaranteed to make it to the final match, without having to duel."

Everyones eyebrows arched at that remark, especially Terry.

"This is the deal. Each duel that you played in was aired live to millions across the country, as you know. What you might not know is that Upperdeck decided to include the fans in some way with this competition."

"Include the fans? What do you mean?" Jamie asked.

"Upperdeck loves to promote their product so they decided to leave the structure of the final bracket of this tournament up to them. Through the internet, they can select the structure that they would most like to see. The structure that has the highest amount of votes will determine how we finish this tournament."

"The structure goes like this. One duelist, like I said, would receive the equivalent of a 'bye' into the final match. Then the remaining two duelist would battle to get to the final match."

"Feh…" Vega grunted. "The structure doesn't matter."

"You don't seem to care, Vega." Sinclair said. Vega closed his eyes and crossed his legs.

"The structure doesn't matter because with three finalists, that's how it has to go. One person is going to be the standout."

"Well, this standout gets to the finals for free." Sinclair said.

"What criteria are there to select the matches?" asked Knowledge.

"None, they can mix and match to their hearts content." Sinclair replied.

"And when will we know?" Re'-Sha asked.

"In one hour." Sinclair said, walking out of the tent.

* * *

Everyone was silent, thinking of their own combinations they'd like to see. Or in the case of the finalists, who they'd like to duel. 

Re'-Sha was giddy with this development. _No matter who I get to face, it's going to play out perfectly. If I face Vega, I get to destroy another of Terry's companions. And for all his pride, Vega still cannot stand up against me. But if I get to Terry, it'll just be sooner than I expected. And that's fine with me, heh._

_I only have one goal. To defeat Terry._ Vega opened his eyes and looked at Terry, who was looking at the ground_ But I want the grandest stage to do it on. The final duel of this tournament is going to be me against him. Therefore..._ he turned to look at Re'-Sha, who returned his glance. _Therefore, I'll defeat Kwandao._

Terry was staring at the ground, thinking to himself. _I gotta keep Re'-Sha from doing more damage. And I think she would like nothing more if she got to play against Vega and I got the bye into the final duel. I really don't like Vega's attitude but I can't let him take her on. He knows everything I know about the situation but he doesn't believe it. He doesn't know the dangers._ He takes a long breath. _I have to be the one to face her in the first match. Then I'll deal with Vega in the final duel._

The hour passes, no one leaves the tent. And then Sinclair returns with the results.

* * *

_Ah, been a while since i left this story with a real cliffhanger that makes you think. At least to me. Now the duel can go just about anyway. I know that the people that have stuck with the story up to this point have their own desires about who faces who. We'll find out soon who's going to get that bye and who's going to be dueling next._

_One thing I wanted to say about this chapter. To me, this duel was the most fun to write because it gets back to the real point Yu-Gi-Oh! was made and is played, as said by Kazuki Takahashi. Even with all the drama and decisions to be made around the characters, it does everyone some good to have fun. Even if its gotta be force fed bya guy like Jamie._

_Anyways, in the next chapter, we will set the stage for the final duels of Battle City and of this story. Mind you, i said set the stage so it's not quite all over yet. And since i'm still writing it, and depending on how long it takes me to finish, it may take a little longer to get the chapter after the next one up. Edits to make the story complete and all that. But in the next one, the finals will be determined. But also, Knowledgetries to makea deal with Re'-Sha! Check out the next chapter _

_(another small cliffhanger coming, stop here if you want.)_

_It's called Terry Falls._

_Huh? Terry Falls! What!_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	26. Terry Falls

_Disclaimer: I wonder just how low executives would be...like if they would actually read this and say "You're using my property without my permission, so pay me!"_

_Anyway guys, lets get straight into it. I've had to stop writing for a little while. I'll spare the details but my finger is swollen and it makes it hard to type. _

_This chapter, Terry, Vega and Re'-Sha find out who's going to fight who and we'll see just what kind of deal Knowledge is cooking up._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Nobody spoke as Sinclair walked into the tent, holding a piece of paper and oddly, something that resembled a electric credit card swiping machine. He set the machine on the table and motioned for Terry, Re'-Sha and Vega to come toward him. They formed a semi-circle around him.

"I'll just get straight to it." He glanced down at the piece of paper.

"Mr. Vega?" Sinclair said, not looking up from the paper. Vega took a step toward him.

"You will be dueling in the semifinals."

"Excellent." Vega said, stepping back.

"Ms. Kwandao?" Sinclair asked, looking toward Re'-Sha. She took one step forward.

"Enjoy your free pass. You have been given the bye."

Which meant that Terry would be dueling in the semifinals. Against Lamar Vega. Both of them were glad to be facing each other but for totally different reasons.

"My destined duel is upon me." Vega said, looking right at Terry.

"Vega." Terry said aloud.

"Now that we have that out of the way, there are two more things that we need to discuss, semi-finalists. And I want to talk to you privately."

Knowledge and Jamie got the idea and both left the tent. When they were alone, Sinclair again picks up the credit card looking machine.

"You all still have the cards that I gave to you. This machine will activate them. They are room keys for a hotel that we have reserved for this tournaments finalists. Since it will be a live event and the company doesn't want a hoard of people trying to interfere, its location is going to be secret."

"Can we invite any of our friends?" Terry asked, hoping to get Knowledge and Jamie in with him.

"I don't see why not, though they can't have another room. They will have to room with you. But I will not have to remind them that the location is secret, right?" Sinclair said, looking at Terry who nodded.

"We have a shuttle arranged for you to get to your hotel. There will be food available and a place to sleep. The tournament will resume tomorrow at 3:00pm. But there is one more thing I need to tell you before I let you go. To keep things fair, someone will collect your decks from you and lock them."

"What!" Vega exclaimed.

Sinclair explained, "To keep it fair and to keep someone from maybe stealing someone's deck or looking through it or whatever, they will be taken from you and locked up. You will get them back when you arrive for check-in for the tournament."

"When will you be collecting them?" asked Terry.

"Tonight at midnight." Sinclair said.

Terry looked down at his watch, noticing it was now 9:25pm. That left him just under two and a half hours to make any kind of modifications to his deck. Depending on the amount of time it took to reach said hotel, that wasn't going to be much time.

Sinclair asked if there were any other questions, there were none, and motioned for them to follow him outside. The crowd had disappeared and the lot was quiet. Like the three duels before had never happened. Three black Tahoe's were lined up and each duelist climbed into one, Terry got in with Knowledge and Jamie, and they were driven to the hotel that they were told about by Sinclair. They ended up going back toward the middle of downtown. Actually back to the Millstone Towers. There was little talk as they walked in to get checked in.

After getting checked in, they were lead by the concierge to their individual rooms. Re'-Sha and Vega each took to their own rooms and Terry, Knowledge and Jamie all piled into their room. And like kids, they start getting nosy.

"Wow." was the collective comment from the three young men. The room was split between a living area with a cabinet that housed a TV and DVD player, a long couch and coffee table. Going deeper into the room was a narrow corridor that led to the bathroom, then past that, the bedroom resided. With another TV, DVD player, a grand window view and mini-bar, which had been stripped of all its alcoholic contents, it was luxurious.

"Come on, lets go!" Jamie said, tossing his bag on a nearby chair and holding open the door.

"Go where?" asked Knowledge, laying on the couch.

"To the room they set up for the finals! I want to see how it looks." Jamie said.

"Aw, we'll see it tomorrow." Terry said, sitting on the floor next to the coffee table and removing his Duel Disk from his arm.

"Naw, he's right. We should go." Knowledge said, sitting up and heading for the door.

"Coming?" Knowledge asked.

Terry nodded no and slipped his deck from his Duel Disk and scattered his cards on the table. He took a quick look at his watch. 10:40PM. Just one hour and twenty minutes until his deck would be taken. He set aside a box with some side deck cards he carried in his backpack and set to work.

* * *

Jamie led the way out of their room to the hallway. The way that the hotel was set up, it was actually the first four floors of the Millstone Tower. The center of the building was 'hollow'. Each floor wrapped around the inside part of the building and from the edge of the hallway, you could look down at the main lobby and the few shops down there or up at a glass ceiling that had been painted with star constellations. It made for a beautiful view in the nighttime. At each North and South end of the building was a set of stairs and elevators that led to the four floors. Jamie and Knowledge boarded the elevators and headed for the basement. Jamie had looked at a floor plan of the hotel while checking in and saw from a paper on the reception desk that there was a Upperdeck event in one of their banquet halls. This hotel only had four large rooms and fortunately it was the nearest one from where they got off the elevators.

The personnel that were working to construct the props and things for the event had apparently left the door unlocked so Jamie and Knowledge just walked in. The lights were still on and they looked in at the place. They immediately took in the fact that this room had extremely high ceilings. They could have easily been forty feet high, maybe a little more. As they took a look at the walls, there were various Yu-Gi-Oh posters or wall scrolls about. Knowledge was the first to claim to want to steal one of the Blue-Eyes ones. They walked into the room some and noticed there was blue tarp on the floor that they hadn't noticed. It was rectangular shaped, like a Duel Field, which they assumed it was. There were barricades laying around the edges of that tarp.

"Jamie." Knowledge said, pulling hard on his sleeve. Jamie looked at Knowledge then looked in the direction he was looking.

"Oh. My. Sweet. Jesus." Jamie said. Both of them ran, ran around the outside of the tarp to the opposite end of the room. They were looking at a Duel Disk, a very special one. This one was made of some clear material, polished to look like glass or crystal. The only places that weren't clear on this one was the parts on their own Duel Disks that wernt shaded gray. Inside of it, they could see the little spring and gears for the field part of the machine and the computer that was in the main section. A single card was inside of the deck holder, probably to show how it looked with a deck loaded into it. It was beautiful.

"You know, I got this sudden urge to read up on lock picking…" Knowledge joked, fiddling with the lock.

"Makes you want to find a way back into this tournament, doesn't it?" Jamie said. He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, maybe next time. I'm heading back up." he announced.

"I'm going to stick around a little while." Knowledge said, staring at the prize.

"Don't do something stupid." Jamie warned, heading for the exit.

"Hey, what's my name?" Knowledge asked.

"You act like you don't have any sometimes!" Jamie called from across the room and left. Knowledge sighed and reached in his pocket.

"You don't know how right you might be, Jamie…" Knowledge said, holding the Millennium Eye in his hand and clenching his fist around it. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, thinking about what he was planning to do. Just as he started thinking, the eye started glowing in his hand.

* * *

Lamar Vega sat in his room, a cold Coca-Cola in one hand and a replay that he had found on TV of the duels they had just been in hours before. They were replaying the duel between Kwandao, or Re'-Sha, and Janet. Vega was intrigued by the way that Kwandao handled Janet who was not being a pushover in that duel. She beat Janet with a strategy using Exodia that he had never seen before. That was clever using the monsters main weakness as strength. Originality and power.

The TV then was interrupted by a special report about 6 kids that were killed in Battle City but Vega had starting replaying the duel between Jamie and Terry in his head, listening but not listening to the TV. As far as he saw, Terry seemed to rely on his Scorpio Dragon as his main monster, but his deck supported Warrior-Type monsters. Scorpio Dragon didn't have any kind of support. But when you talked of his other monsters and such, he seemed to have them pretty well supported.

He leaned back on the bed he was sitting on and shed his jacket that he was wearing, stripping down to his black sleeveless t-shirt and laid there, looking at the ceiling. He thought for a moment about what Terry had been telling him about this Kwandao girl and what she was trying to do. He saw that these things, the Millennium Items, do have some kind of powers. He witnessed them when he saw Terry dueling against that Ian kid. And he felt it when he was attacked by Kwandao before the tournament began. These items can make the monsters attacks feel real. But for him, it was irrelevant, despite how impressive a feat it is. He put it off as something that could have been done with Duel Disks when Upperdeck and the manufacturer, Canyon Unlimited, made them.

He didn't care for the Millennium Items but that girl was starting to become more and more like Terry had described, a menace. She apparently did something to Janet Rush to change her. If he dueled against her, what might she try to do to him?

Vega shook his head violently and sat up on the bed. He was letting something that he didn't know everything about start to worry him. He looked at the nearby VCR, 10:55pm. He patted his pocket to make sure he had his keycard and left his room.

* * *

Kwandao, asleep in her bed and fully clothed, was resting while Re'-Sha was plotting, thinking of what to do with Terry when she heard it.

_Twttttt...twweeeeet..._

And it confused her for a minute. Terry had all the Millennium Items with him except hers. But he only wore and used the Millennium Puzzle. Anytime she gotten close to him, she could hear this but now she could hear a second, separate one. Like there was someone else with a Millennium Item.

Re'-Sha didn't know what it meant, but she wanted to know…

Kwandao, still sleeping, didn't feel, notice, or even was aware that Re'-Sha had awakened and was controlling her body again. Re'-Sha got up from the bed and immediately left her room. Upon leaving, she headed for the stairway at the end of the hallway. She tried going up and felt that she was moving away from the item. So she started walking down the stairs slowly. She eventually passed the lobby level and was in one of the lower basements where the hotel had their grand meeting rooms. She was close. She walked along the hall, her heels clicking as she stepped, running a hand along the wall and getting closer and closer. She turned and walked into a room where she noticed a set up that was probably to be used for the finals but she was more occupied with the golden shine coming from a person's clenched fist.

"You're here…" was all Knowledge said to acknowledge her.

"So it's you!" Re'-Sha said in surprise. She walked inside the room, silently treading on the carpeted ground. Knowledge kept his eyes on her, his fist still extended and the item still glowing in his hand.

"How'd you wrestle that away from your friend, Terry?" Re'-Sha asked.

Knowledge didn't respond.

"Oh, I know. You STOLE it from him, hmm?" Re'-Sha in a whisper. "That was a pretty sneaky, underhanded-"

"Just shut up." Knowledge commanded. Re'-Sha smiled and obliged. Knowledge opened his fist and showed off the Millennium Eye to Re'-Sha. Her eyes got as wide as that little ball.

"I'll make you a deal." Knowledge said, surprising her even more. She looked up from his palm to hear this.

"I'll give you this Millennium Eye, but in exchange, I want you to change Janet back into the person she was and swear to never bother her, me, or Jamie again." Knowledge said.

Re'-Sha looked at him and sighed deeply. "Is that what you called me for? To make a deal? I don't make deals, I take what is due."

"You're due a lot of punishment, either way." Knowledge said.

"Either way?"

"Either by my hand or by Terry's."

Re'-Sha chuckled. "Terry is nothing. And you're much less than nothing. Besides, fool, you can't give that away. I have to relieve you of it."

"What?" asked Knowledge.

"When you activated that item, when you used it's power, you became it's Guardian. You cannot relinquish that item except through a Game of Darkness."

"But this is Terry's item!" Knowledge exclaimed.

"Heh, apparently, he never used it to become its Guardian. He just took it as a condition of winning." Re'-Sha said, laughter in her voice.

"Too bad for you then."

"Hmm?" asked Re'-Sha.

"If this makes me a Guardian…" Knowledge set his Duel Disk into place. "Then I'll have to challenge you and TAKE your Millennium Ring. And if I win, then you will change Janet back to how she was before."

Re'-Sha slipped her deck inside her Duel Disk "If, is the operative word. But what happens if I win?"

"If you win…" Knowledge began. "If you win, ill give you this Millennium Eye. Beyond that is your decision."

Re'-Sha sucked in a sharp breath, he was putting himself in her hands.

"Alright, if I win, ill take the Millennium Eye. Heh heh, and I know what kind of punishment I have in mind for you but I'll wait until the end of the game to tell you. Do you accept?"

"KNOWLEDGE!"

Knowledge, not figuratively but literally, jumped at the sound of the voice. He peeked over Re'-Sha's shoulder and saw Terry standing in the doorway, huffing and puffing.

"Terry?" he asked.

"What the hell are you doing!" Terry yelled.

"Why Terry, what took you so long? I know that you, too, could sense this Millennium Item." asked Re'-Sha, not turning to look at Terry but placed her hands on her hips.

Terry walked further into the room, walked past Re'-Sha and approached Knowledge. He shoved him and again asked him what he was doing. For the first time, Knowledge got quiet with his words.

"I had to do it…" he started. Terry cut him off.

"Didn't I tell you - I know I told you! I told you! Don't mess with these things! You'll only make yourself a target!"

"I had to…for her…" Knowledge said quietly.

Terry snatched the Millennium Eye from Knowledge's hand. But as he moved to put it away in his pocket, he felt the Eye tugging back on his hand. It surprised him and he mumbled out "What?" as he fought against the Eye. The force on it became so strong that it just slipped from his fingers and floated in front of Knowledge again. Knowledge looked down on it and cupped it with both of his hands. Terry just looked at his friend, the words he had in his heart refusing to come to his lips.

"Like I told you before, Millennium Items can't be exchanged once their claimed. Heh, you use it, you bought it." She laughed. Then she turned serious again. "But you had interrupted a conversation, Terry. Your friend here was just about to accept my challenge for that Millennium Eye of his, weren't you?"

"You were what?" Terry asked slowly, turning to face Re'-Sha. "Over. My. Dead. Body."

"Gladly. But this isn't your decision." Re'-Sha said, she locked eyes with Knowledge.

"Knowledge, use your head man! She's trying to sucker you! Don't do –"

"Enough!" Re'-Sha roared. Knowledge looked up at Re'-Sha, watching. She began to focus her energies and before Terry could react to it, she somehow forced his mouth closed. His jaw muscles wouldn't obey his brain to open. He tried to even force them open with his hands but it wasn't working. He stared at Re'-Sha and was about to start to retaliate with some of his own Dark Power but he felt a tightening in his throat. He realized right off the bat she was targeting his windpipe too. Re'-Sha walked toward Terry and ran her hand softly, caressingly over his cheek. She calmly explained, whispering in his ear, that if he even attempted to use his Dark Power, she'd strangle him without even touching him. Slowly. So she could savor every moment he went with less and less air until he passed out and died.

Terry stepped back from Re'-Sha so he could look in her eyes, those cold silver coins in her eyes burned back in his face. Suddenly, she swung her open palm straight into his cheek. Terry groaned and staggered back a step into Knowledge, knocking him back as well.

"Stop this right now!" Knowledge demanded.

"You know how to stop this…" was all Re'-Sha said. She turned her attention back to Terry and got dirty. She swung her leg right between his and laid all her strength into that swing. Terry screamed through his teeth and fell to his knees, grabbing at his crotch and looking up at Re'-Sha with immeasurable rage.

"Re'-Sha…" Knowledge growled with gritted teeth, his fist tightening on his Millennium Eye.

"Accept my challenge!"

"No!" Knowledge finally declared. He set his Duel Disk back to its resting position and then pointed at Re'-Sha. "I won't be played by you Re'-Sha."

This set Re'-Sha off, Terry had just ruined a chance for her to acquire another Millennium Item and if she couldn't have it, it was only fair that Terry receive her frustrations.

"If you don't accept, fine, but I'll make sure that this 'boy' never raises his voice against me again!" Re'-Sha said, she looked down at Terry, her silver eyes wild with anger, and clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palms. As she did it, a black mist started to form around Terry's head and he yelled through his clenched teeth that were grinding harder and harder against each other. He could feel the pressure building in his head and had no choice but to use his Millennium Puzzle to counter. He couldn't break Re'-Sha's hold but it was enough to lessen the force. However, like she said, the moment he used his powers, he felt his throat start to tighten.

Re'-Sha was the first to notice. Knowledge, who was silent since she started trying to drive Terry's teeth into his brain, was shivering in his upper body. He was staring at Re'-Sha's face. If he could see himself, he would see his forehead coated with a fine mist of sweat. His teeth were bared, like a savage animal. But his eyes were completely bloodshot. No, bloodshot couldn't even describe it! Any part of his eye that was white turned to a rich blood red.

Deep, deep black fire began to surround his body, top to bottom. At his feet, a circle of white light that spiked up and circled his body could be seen. A single ribbon of blue fire started to intertwine with that blackness and floated along the outside of the flame.

This new turn of events had so shocked Terry and Re'-Sha that Re'-Sha actually lost her focus and allowed Terry roll to the side and escape. He stood up, shakily, and was now only an observer to what was happening to Knowledge.

The fire that was surrounding Knowledge suddenly became a narrower form of itself, more closely surrounding his body. In this entire time since this had started, Knowledge was in the center of this and the only things that were on his mind were the insults, belittling and ridicule he had received.

* * *

"_What you need to do is learn! Because I can tell you right now...that if it was one-on-one, you would have lost against me."__

* * *

"Watch yourself, BOY!"_

* * *

_"Weak duelists have no right to carry the pride of strong duelists! And clueless, strategy-less, stumbling duelists like this have more practice to look forward to!"_

* * *

_"Then again, that befits a completely useless person like you. Totally useless, __clueless, pathetic boy."_

* * *

Suddenly, the swirl of fire that had been surrounding him just shot upwards toward the high ceiling. At the same moment, Knowledge looked up, didn't scream but let out a long drawn out roar through clenched teeth. The fire pooled above Knowledge and started forming itself into a shape. At first glance, just something long and big. Then the mass started to become a little more detailed. It wasn't just long, it was something with four appendages toward it's center and a set of wider thinner things on its upper side. A little more detail could be seen by Terry, Knowledge and Re'-Sha. The two ends of the shape formed became defined as one end was a tail and one end was a head. The four appendages turned out to be clawed arms and clawed legs. Then, in the head part of the mass, an eye came out of the mass. It was blue.

"It couldn't be!" Terry was the first to say.

The shape continued to form. The skin was now able to be distinguished; it was a gunmetal silver color that ran from head to tail. It shimmered in the light from the room. The claws were of the same color, even from their distance, they were deadly sharp and strong. Finally the head was able to be made out, a rounded snout with a row of small teeth like daggers.

"…The…Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Terry exclaimed.

"…Re'-Sha…" Knowledge said, speaking for the first time since this had begun. He was still looking up, now at the underside of Blue-Eyes when he spoke her name. He lowered his head and opened his eyes, brown eyes surrounded by red, and simply smiled a wide, toothy, demented smile. Another cloud of black fire surrounded his body when he swiftly pointed at her.

"BLUE-EYES! KILL HER!" Knowledge yelled.

"KNOWLEDGE!" Terry screamed. Purely relying on his instinct, an instinct to save a life, he ran back toward where Knowledge and Re'-Sha were standing. And he foolishly jumped in the path of the white beam from Blue-Eyes' mouth. Nothing prepared him for the blast that came.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" was all that Terry was screaming. His body would pause briefly for a moment of air, then he would resume screaming. That response was automatic. His mind was screaming for his body to preserve itself and get out of the way, but Terry refused to move. The pain raining onto his chest, where the beam was raining down, was nothing like he had ever felt before. None of the duels he had played in felt like this. It felt like nails were being driven into his chest, repedidly. His mind was so far gone that he couldn't bring himself to use his Dark Power to even try to shield this.

"Get out of the way!" Knowledge screamed to Terry. He could see his body standing and taking the attack he had meant for Re'-Sha.

"Terry! She is an evil-" Knowledge started.

"ARGGGGGG!" Terry's throat was burning as he screamed. "ITS NOT HER!"

Knowledge looked at Re'-Sha, and saw her with her eyes wide open and a hand over her heart and her mouth. It was such an unusual look for her that Knowledge realized what he meant. Re'-Sha was not out, that was the other person, Kwandao Kawamura!

"My God!" Knowledge gasped. As soon as the words left his lips, in a quick flash of blue, white and silver, Blue-Eyes stopped firing its beam attack. A moment afterwards, it turned into a large while silhouette of itself and in a blink was gone. Everyone was silent afterwards. Knowledge, whose eyes had returned to their normal color and the fire around him dispersed, looked at Terry. Terry looked at him.

"….Know….ledge…." then he quickly fell down on his knees, then he fell forward onto his face.

"Oh no…" sobbed Kwandao, who hadn't moved from her position. She dropped down to her knees and reached out to touch Terry's arm. When she touched him, she yanked her hand away immediately. He felt ice cold.

"No…" Kwandao cried, tears in the corners of her eyes. She blinked a couple of times and they fell freely down her cheek.

Kwandao didn't notice but from the moment Blue-Eyes had left the room and Knowledge's eyes returned to normal, he had collapsed, too. Leaning against the far wall, crouched on the ground, unmoving. When she finally did notice, she couldn't stop a small gasp from escaping. Everything was quiet, the air was still after all that activity.

"When is all this going to end…" she whispered to herself.

_When I get what I want. No sooner._ A voice from inside Kwandao told her. The voice of Re'-Sha.

"Haven't you done enough? You're not satisfied?" asked Kwandao.

_Stop asking me stupid questions. Until I have all the Millennium Items, I will not be satisfied. Until I have Exodia back, I will not be satisfied._

Kwandao cupped her hands over her face. "Why can't I just die to be rid of you?"

_Heh, you can do whatever with your life after I get what I want. When I have Exodia, I'll gladly end it FOR you. But I still have business. The one kid surprised me by calling Blue-Eyes here, but that takes care of one..._

Just then, the door to the room swung open and Jamie stepped through. "What the hell is going on!" he demanded. He looked over and saw both Terry and Knowledge laying on the ground. He ran and got to Terry first, ignoring Kwandao. He grabbed him and felt how cold he was.

"Oh my God…Terry…" Jamie whispered. He turned around toward the doorway. "How long are you just going to stand there, Vega! I need some help!"

Vega walked into the room and glided past Jamie and Terry, just casting a glancing look down at them. He attended to Knowledge, still slumped against the wall. His face was flushed but he was breathing. To Vega, whatever he had done had taken a big toll on him. He leaned against the wall, crouched down, slung Knowledge's right arm over his left shoulder and stood again, bracing Knowledge against him. Jamie had slung Terry over his back and was holding him there with his arms. Both of them silently left the room, passing Kwandao.

* * *

_For once, i don't have much to say about my chapter..._

_Just this though. Much appreciation to the guys that seem to still be reading my story and of course to the reviews that i get. I like the reviews and all, but i dont really beg for them. Not really why im writing, though constructive critism is more what im looking for at this point. _

_Anyways, check in soon for the next chapter, titled Soul Burning. In it, Shadi will drop in again and we'll see how everyone is handling this latest twist and Terry and Knowledge's condition._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	27. Soul Burning

_Disclaimer:...(im in a slow mood today, just say that the usual babble is on it's way, but its moving slower than a fat woman in a cactus garden)_

_Well, the swelling in my damn finger finally went down enough for me to type without hitting keys i didnt want to. I never knew something like that would hurt your writing. Apparently, there was some kind of infection, and i had to watch it being drained. Not pretty. _

_Anyway, i need to get in gear, after this chapter, im only 3 ahead of what im posting, and i like to be 5 or more ahead so i can revise stuff. But you guys dont worry about that. The next chapter starts now!_

_NOTE: something is up with my browser and it wont let me put breaks in the story. Trying to fix it but i hope it doesn't make the story too confusing to read and understand._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 29: Soul Burning

Jamie and Vega had returned Terry to his room. They laid him down on his couch and just looked down on him. The good news was that he was breathing but like they had noticed before, his body was still ice cold to the touch. Knowledge wasn't much better. They sat him down in one of the chairs in the room. They said nothing, they just looked from one to the other.

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Terry was…Actually Terry didn't know where he was. All he saw was darkness, in whatever direction he looked and whichever direction he walked, that all he saw. He saw that his Millennium Puzzle was still with him though. And he could feel that he wasn't alone.

"Who's out there?" Terry called out. No one replied. Terry called out again to the same response, nothing. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He spun around, expecting the worst. He looked up and only smiled for a second before letting out a long breath.

"You scared me." Terry said. "You. You're a real cat, you know that, Shadi?"

Shadi looked down at the teenager with those completely blue eyes and that white turban around his head. His clothing hadn't changed since Terry had seen him before the start of Battle City. It was nice to see that somethings hadn't completely changed. "Did I startle you?"

"Yeah, but not as much as this…" Terry said, turning and gesturing out at the darkness surrounding them. "Where am I anyway?"

"You should know, it's your mind." Shadi explained.

"My mind?" Terry said, looking out at nothing. He let out a dry, break the mood type of laugh. "Somehow I'd think that id have a lot more on my mind."

"You're lucky to have a mind left after what happened." Shadi replied.

"Yeah. Hey, what happened anyway? How did Knowledge do that? And how am I not dead?" Terry asked, his voice rising and his speech quicking with each question.

"Patience, Terry. I know that you have questions, that is part of the reason I came to you."

"Then answer me this first. How did Knowledge do that?" Terry asked.

Shadi looked hesitant. Terry saw it and repeated his question. Shadi looked down at him, looked him directly in the eye. "It's a technique people called Soul Burning."

"Soul…Burning?" Terry repeated each word slowly, like he had just heard them for the first time.

"Yes. It's a dark technique, a side-effect of the creation of the Millennium Items. It's something that anyone with a Millennium Item can do."

"What! Even Re'-Sha could do that?" Terry exclaimed.

Shadi nodded.

Terry felt a dizziness pass over him. He was just hit by one of the stronger monsters in the game. He couldn't fathom going an entire duel's length with the risk of getting that kind of pain. His heart fluttered and his skin felt tingly. Shadi continued his explanation.

"Soul Burning was the one reason that the Millennium Items were not limited to just being held by one person. It was one of the priests that locked Re'-Sha into the Millennium Ring that made this discovery. But it was so dangerous, that when conferred with by his peers, it was decided that this technique would remain secret. It was a great hidden power but it could easily kill its users. It was a technique that defied the Gods as it is. No one wanted to incur further wrath from their deities. And so, the Millennium Ring was hidden as they had planned so that Re'-Sha would no longer terrorize them."

Shadi started to walk off and Terry followed close beside him.

"So when Knowledge did that…did he…" Terry asked, not knowing what had happened to Knowledge after he remembered passing out.

"Die? No, your friend is alive. The technique took a great toll on his body. He called for one of the greatest monsters to deliver a death blow on its target. But he will recover. As will you." Shadi said. That comforted Terry. He and Shadi continued to walk on and Terry decided to ask some more questions.

"How does Soul Burning actually work?" asked Terry.

"Hmm…it's a little complicated. As you know, life for a human needs three essential things. One is the body. Two is the mind. Three is the heart. With these three, you have life. But life is finite. When life is finished, you have the afterlife. For you to have afterlife, you must have, again, three things. One is the soul. Two is the mind. Three is the heart."

_**LIFE: Heart, Mind, Body**_

_**AFTERLIFE: Heart, Mind, Soul (your 'body' of the afterlife)**_

_That sounds a lot like what Re'-Sha was telling me..._Terry thought to himself.

"Between these two versions of 'life', your body is the only thing that dies. Your heart and mind pass on. The mind doesn't play much of a part in Soul Burning, it's the heart that does. It is the key. It's what lets you call, or summon, a monster from the Realm of Monsters to this realm. When you summon that monster, it draws on your life to remain there. Once you stop offering life, or unfortunately when you have no more to give, it returns to the Realm of Monsters."

"And through that process, the Millennium Items…" Terry grabbed his Millennium Puzzle. "Act like a, a transformer? They turn my body's energy into Dark Power. I can use Dark Power to manipulate things with my Puzzle and also to power my monster?"

"Correct, Terry." Shadi stopped walking. He hesitated and stated. "And I suppose you want to know how to exactly call a monster with Soul Burning?"

"That's right." Terry replied. Shadi was facing forward and turned to face the young man at his side. "Shadi, I need to know. Anything that can make that big of a difference between me and Re'-Sha I have to have."

Shadi closed his eyes as he spoke. "Your future is in your hands…" He said, more like he was expressing a point. "Soul Burning is much easier done than explained. It requires a substantial amount of Dark Energy to be collected then it needs to be focused into calling to a monster through your heart. That's all that's needed. Once the monster is summoned, its time there is determined by either how much Dark Enegy you dedicate to it or when you stop giving it energy."

"But I must warn you. Your soul will recover much more quickly than your body. I will help your body to recover but you must be cautious with this technique."

With that, Shadi turned and started walking away again. Terry followed again, asking where they were heading. Shadi didn't respond so Terry just kept following and decided to ask some more of him.

"Shadi, these Guardians that I faced. All of them told me a little bit of this mystery about my Millennium Puzzle. You, at first, told me that Re'-Sha was sealed into the Millennium Ring by those ancient priests. Later on, one Guardian named Scale told me that that was true, but five others were created as part of the same spell to keep her there. The Millennium Puzzle was made some time afterwards. Then another Guardian named Jurvicious Stone told me that the priests had sealed her into the Realm of Monsters before placing her in the Millennium Ring. But while there, she became pretty powerful. Enough so that she could still go between the Realm of Monsters and here as she pleased. Then she was again taken and, now, sealed in the Millennium Ring, with the other five items to 'strengthen' the spell. But about then was when this Millennium Puzzle was created, supposedly as the Egyptian's Ultimate Weapon. Then Re'-Sha herself told me that when she was in the Realm of Monsters, she became Exodia. But when she was sealed in the ring, they separated her mind, which got sealed, from her soul, which was left in the Realm of Monsters."

"And you wish to know the ultimate purpose of that Millennium Puzzle you wear?" Shadi asked.

Terry nodded, trying to prepare himself for an answer he'd been wanting a long time.

"You recall how I said for life to exist, you must have three elements? Think about it, Terry. Re'-Sha's mind is held within the Millennium Ring. Re'-Sha's soul, or her body in a sense, is held in the Realm of Monsters. What element is she missing?"

"Her…heart?" Terry offered.

"Correct. And where do you think it is?"

Terry shrugged, saying he had no clue. He tried to think about it. _Soul, Mind, Heart. Soul in another realm, mind in a Millennium Item, Heart...where's the heart? If I was Re'-Sha's heart, where would I be? The Heart, missing, heart is the key, where...what does the heart do? The Heart is the key...the key...The Heart is the key to...To...To what, all I know it's the key to Soul...Wait...Wait a minute!_

"…You're lying. There's no way…" Terry stammered. Shadi just nodded. Terry grasped the golden item hanging from his chest, staring into its eye. "Re'-Sha's heart is IN the Millennium Puzzle?"

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Vega glanced down at his watch, showing a time of 11:20pm. Just forty minutes left until decks would be collected. He roused himself from the chair he was sitting at and started walking toward the door. Jamie saw him, but made no move to stop him or say anything. Vega did.

"Do me a favor." Vega said. "When Terry wakes up, tell him i'll be waiting for him tomorrow."

Jamie, barely audibly replied, "What if he doesn't wake up?"

Vega reached for the door. "He will."

Vega opened the door and left the room. Outside he paused. _Terry's will to beat that Kwandao woman is admirable. He'll do anything and beat anybody to reach that goal. Hmm...It's been some time since I've had that kind of desire and drive in my heart..._

Vega walked down the hallway to his room, only a short distance away. _Yu-Gi-Oh! was the only kind of fun I had when I was a kid. When I played, I didn't have to worry about who I was...or who my parents were. Or are. Or more to the point, where. I was just another orphan kid in love with the game. Times were good, the games took your mind off all your friends disappearing. Well not disappearing, but going to new families. Saying they'll come back but never do..._

Vega opened his door and walked into his room. He'd left the lights off and treaded in the dark silence to his couch, where he laid down. _I'd beaten at one point or another, every kid that was there at that orphanage. I had no friends, just acquaintaces until they left. I left as soon as I got my money. And I just went to the only place that meant anything to me at that point. Japan. I went to learn from some of the greatest Yu-Gi-Oh! duelists their country had to offer. I can't thank them enough for all that they taught me, or even beat into me. Tough losses and humble wins. It was worth it because when I returned to the US, I literally had no rival, no equal, no...competition._

Vega took a swig of the soda he had left on his table before he started walking the hallways. _I guess people start giving you nicknames to fit or match you. 'The King of Games' isn't my name but it's what people always called me. So I strived to become a King. I started traveling the country as a ronin, a traveling duelist, to prove it to all. I took up all challenges at all the Duel King Tournament sites. But it wasn't until I met Terry...that I realized something._

Vega reached for his deck on the coffee table besides the couch and flipped through his cards and picked out his Red-Eyes. _In order for me to achieve that goal, to become the King of Games, I have to defeat those that equally deserve that title. Equally deserve...the right to be the greatest of us all._

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"The Heart of Re'-Sha is in my Millennium Puzzle…" Terry said to himself aloud, pulling it off his neck and holding it by its string. The fact that a piece of that woman had been that close to him disgusted him. He looked at Shadi with a stone cold deadly stare, realizing the secretive 'man' knew the whole time he was carrying a piece of Re'-Sha around him. "Then tell me why I shouldn't just destroy this thing, Shadi?"

"I have no answer to that. The Millennium Puzzle is yours to do with as you see fit. But you can't 'destroy' it in your mind." Shadi said.

Terry saw what he was saying and silently slipped the golden pyramid back around his neck. His body visibly shook from knowing what was inside that puzzle and that it was on his person. He continued to walk along with Shadi.

"The ancient Egyptians," Shadi started. "they realized the power that a monster like Exodia had. After losing their ability of God Sight their people started to collapse. The people had looked to the Pharoah and those priests as the closest to touching the Gods. Now the Gods had punished their priests. The Pharoah and priests knew the people needed a new force to unify them. Those priests learned of how Re'-Sha had turned herself into a monster and they wanted to use that power. In the beginning, there were attempts to control the monster using the forbidden Soul Burning technique. It failed. Along with any other method they attempted, but it produced the closest results to success, even if many, many, subjects died in their research. The monster couldn't be directly controlled so they came up with an alternate solution. To separate the elements of life in the monster."

"And that's why all the componets to Re'-Sha's life were scattered? Her heart, mind and soul divided?" Terry added.

"Ah. And they also broke the monster's body apart as well. Into five 'Forbidden' pieces."

_This must be where the names Forbidden Left and Right Arms, Forbidden Left and Right Legs and Forbidden Exodia itself came from. The names make sense now._ Terry thought to himself.

Shadi continued. "Each piece was entrusted to each of the five priests that held the Millennium Tauk, Scale, Eye, Rod and Anhk. So now much less of a strain was put to one person. The five priests controlled the pieces of the body and the owner of the Millennium Puzzle controlled the priests."

"And, of course," Terry said, "the Pharoah owned the Millennium Puzzle."

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EXODIA SUMMONED

SOUL BURNING

NAMES: Priest1 Priest2 Priest3 Priest4 Priest5 PHAROAH

ITEM: Eye Scale Rod Anhk Tauk Puzzle

MONSTER: L. Leg R. Leg Body L. Arm R. Arm Heart of Re'-Sha

**_(NOTE: this is a "diagram" as to how Soul Burning would work. Each of the five priests would perform Soul Burning with a Millennium Item to call out a piece of Exodia. The Heart of Re'-Sha would bring those pieces together into a complete form of Exodia and the Pharoah would control the pieces with the Heart of Re'-Sha, thus controling the priests. The end result, a Soul Burning Exodia controlled by the pharaoh.)_**

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"I think I understand." Terry said. "But Stone told me the Items wern't delegated to certain people or certain families. If someone dared, they could challenge the owner of a Millennium Item."

"Stone was correct. Anyone could challenge the owners of the items. But the winner was bound by law to serve the Pharoah."

_I see. So to call to the 'Ultimate Weapon' the Pharoah needed his Millennium Item holders to control the pieces of the monster. While he controlled them with the Heart of Re'-Sha, inside the Millennium Puzzle. A monster so powerful that it takes immense amounts of Dark Energy to summon and six people to control. That kind of power is what Re'-Sha wants..._

"So what are you here for, Shadi?" Terry asked, just about satisfied that his lingering questions had been answered.

"I've come to offer you a weapon."

"A what?" Terry said, and stopped walking at that point. Shadi turned and faced him, arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

"At your current rate, I feel that you would lose to Re'-Sha in the end."

"What!" roared Terry, truly insulted. "I fought all those Guardians and got stronger for you to tell me now that I can't win! How do you even begin to figure that?"

Shadi pointed an accusatory finger at him, raising his voice and sneering as he spoke. "You're weak, Terry! You do not have what it may truly take to fufill your destiny as Guardian of Future History!"

"I've been watching you throughout this entire tournament. I've seen the progression you've made as a man and as a duelist. You have come a way from where you started from. You are wiser and disciplined. You have the tools to become one of the greatest duelists of your time. But I know your weakness."

"My weakness?" Terry questioned.

"Yes. You're soft, as they say."

"Shadi…" Terry growled.

"You're a youthful punk and you are not as strong as you can be. You are flat out weak." Shadi said, starting to walk in a circle around a still Terry, continuing to criticize him. "You even rely on your friends to help you in your times of need. Because you cant take care of yourself. You even go out of your way to help them when they're certainly capable of helping themselves. You care obsessively. You even dared to question a decision one of your own friends made of his own resolve! And when you found out, you didn't support him, you belittled him for taking the Millennium Eye for another's sake. For using something to help another! How you managed to get to the point you are at now is one of your 'miracles' in every sense of the word."

Terry had his head lowered, but his ears were taking in all the words Shadi was saying. His body shook visibly and he had both of his hands balled into fists. He had locked up all his emotions inside his body, trying desperately not to lose it. Each of Shadi's words were like little holes on a balloon, opening him up more and threatening to unleash his emotions.

"Ah, I can see it. You want to silence me." Shadi said, from behind Terry. His next words came like he was right next to his ear. "Do it. 'Shut me up' as they say."

Terry made no move. And all was quiet for over a minute. Neither Terry nor Shadi said anything else. Shadi put a hand on Terry's shoulder and turned him to face him. Terry looked up and was quite surprised to see a smile on Shadi's face. Not a sneer kind of smile, but a caring type of smile.

"Rest easy. I was testing you, my apologies if I troubled you but it was necessary."

"Necessary how?" Terry asked, relieved it was an act but still stinging from the words.

"To illustrate your weakness to your own eyes. I found an interesting term to put this as. You can't take it to the next level. You cannot take that next step in fighting in a duel. You don't have it in you to hurt someone if it's necessary."

"That's because it's not necessary!" Terry exclaimed, nearly cutting the mysterious stranger off.

"What?" questioned Shadi.

"You don't understand, Shadi. The game of Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't meant to be a tool of wars or a means of violence against another person. It's meant as a way to brings friends together and for people of all ages to have fun and have a just and fair competition among themselves. That's the essence of the game."

Shadi sighed and closed his eyes. "You are right, Terry. As it refers to the game right now, that is how it is. It's better this way. But in the days past and in the timelessness of the Game of Darkness, these things, these…'ideals'…do not exist. It is a struggle to survive. And to survive, at times, you must be fierce and aggressive. Your current way of thinking will not help you in your duel against Re'-Sha. Think back and recall your duel with Jurvicious Stone. Recall the time when he angered you so much, you wanted to break him."

Terry thought about it and did recall that memory very well. In that duel, he had been angered so much that he was indeed ready to destroy Stone. But he hesitated.

"That's right, you hesitated. Had that had been Re'-Sha, you could have lost your life or one of your friends."

Terry was about to argue Shadi's point, but he looked away from him and hung his head. He wasn't saying anything that wasn't a lie. _It's true, I think that if I had to take it to the ultimate level, if I had to take a life, to take Re'-Sha's life, even through everything that she's done..._

"And that's why I've come to see you. Your destiny still rests in your hands, you write it as you go, so it's your decision if you want to use it. When you awaken, you will find it." Shadi finished his statement and then started to slowly blend into the darkness around them, disappearing.

"Wait! I still have a question! The Millennium Scale, it gave me a blank card!"

"I just told you what that card is. Think about it Terry and carefully consider your new weapon……" and with that, Shadi disappeared.

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He disappeared only to reappear in the hotel room where Jamie was still watching over his friend. Jamie suddenly felt a presense behind him and spun around.

"Whoa!" he yelped and stepped backwards onto the floor. He stared up into Shadi's eyes and was still shaking slightly from the shock he just gave him.

"I came to ease your fears. Your friend Terry is alive. As is the other young man." Shadi said, turning to look at Knowledge passed out in the chair.

"R-Really?" Jamie asked, jumping up to his feet. Shadi nodded and Jamie let out a whoop louder than he should have.

"Shadi, thank you! You have no idea how great that makes me feel!" Jamie said to him. Shadi just looked back at Jamie for a moment before looking at Knowledge again.

"Terry will awaken shortly as I have assisted in the healing of his body."

"And what about Knowledge? Soon?" Jamie asked. Shadi just nodded. He looked to Jamie briefly then walked past Terry, laid on the couch, and headed into the darkened part of the room. His figure became less and less visable until Jamie was staring into…just a darkened room.

Jamie sank back down in his chair and looked at Terry's form. As he did, he reminded himself of what Vega had said about Terry before he left. The duel between those two tomorrow had more meaning to it than any he had played in. If he were some kind of writer, he could easily make up a headline for this duel: "The King of Games May Be Dethroned Tomorrow!"

_Man...how cool would it be to be known as the King of Games? Vega has it better than he thinks, methinks._ Jamie thought and smiled to himself. Then he turned serious and wondered about something that had been bothering him. _Terry and Knowledge want to use this game as a means of fighting, fighting a war almost. But it's wrong, it's the wrong kind of path to take. I don't know, or ever want to know, why these Millennium Items were created. I can look at their power and their users to figure that out. Re'-Sha has bent herself on killing Terry, Terry has to use those things to defend the future from her, and Knowledge somehow has involved himself in this too. Janet fell to the power of them and even the Kwandao girl is under their influence. Too, too, too many people have fallen because of those damned things. Theres no real good that can come from them. _Pretty soon thereafter, he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He wanted to stay awake until Knowledge and Terry awakened but the day's events had taken their toll on him. He didn't even notice when he drifted off to sleep.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Sometime after Jamie had fallen asleep, Knowledge groaned, and immediately felt a tightening in his stomach. He clapped a hand over his mouth and crunched over in his chair. He swallowed back the bitter vile and leaned back in his chair, gingerly, eyes closed. His body felt numb throughout. He inhaled deeply and could smell the must that had gathered on his body as he closed his eyes.

_God, I feel terrible...and how did I end up back here?...The last I remember...i confronted Re'-Sha...then I refused her challenge. Terry came in...and Re'-Sha started beating on him...then...then all I can remember is getting angry and looking up and seeing Blue-Eyes White Dragon...and...and...i told it to kill her...then Terry jumped in the way! Terry!_

Knowledge shot up like lightning from his chair and immediately, all the muscles in his back just pulled taut, like they had fell asleep. Knowledge arched his back, inhaling a sharp breath and letting out small gasps as he tried to control his own body. He wanted to, and tried to, tell the muscles to relax but they did nothing but pull harder. And it scared him that he wasn't able to control himself. He could, however, see Terry laying on the couch nearby and was somewhat comforted. Until he tried to sit back in the chair much to fast. He groaned loudly and started lowering himself down much slower.

The commotion had roused Jamie however. The chair he had fallen asleep in was directly in front of the one Knowledge was in. He heard the movement behind him and turned to look. When he saw Knowledge he jumped over the back of the chair with one swift motion. He was about to yell out to his friend, but he saw the amount of stress on his face. It's was a very sobering sight; your friend trying to lower himself into a chair almost like he was paralyzed.

"Knowledge…" Jamie said just above a whisper.

"…Terry…how's he…" Knowledge tried to say between gasps.

"He's alive. That's about all I know for sure." Jamie said, still staring at Knowledge forcing himself to sit.

"Re'-Sha?" Knowledge asked.

Jamie shook his head, "I don't know. After Vega and I found you, her and Terry we just took you guys back here and left her there. She didn't say or do anything to us."

By this time, Knowledge had managed to seat himself back down and was letting out some deep breaths. He couldn't believe how literally 'destroyed' his body felt. Any day that he missed school for a bad illness? This was over a thousand times worse than those. His eyes hurt to use, his muscles threatened to tighten if he used them, his fingers and toes felt extremely numb. Absolutely nothing on his body was functioning in the way he wanted it to.

"Knowledge, is there something I can get you? Maybe make you feel better?" Jamie asked, trying to be helpful.

"….Hurts to….even….talk…." was all that Knowledge managed to get out, but Jamie understood. He turned back to his chair and pushed it so it was against the far wall so he could see both Knowledge and Terry as he sat. Knowledge had stopped taking in deep breaths and was just taking long and audible breaths through his nose and exhaling the same way. For the moment he seemed better than when Jamie first woke up.

There was a light tapping on the door and Jamie took a look at his watch, 12:05am. The guy that was supposed to be collecting decks from Terry. Jamie got up and picked up the deck on the end of the coffee table. He noticed some others scattered way on the other side of the table and didn't pay them attention until he glanced down into the backpack that Terry was carrying his Millennium Items in. He saw a few cards that looked like they fell off the top of his deck and landed there since it was right beneath it. He added them to it and took a quick peek through Terry's deck.

_Hmm...he hasn't tweaked it much. Some new monsters...couple new cards all around...Wait! There's no way! I don't believe my eyes!_ Jamie took the card he was looking at and just couldn't believe Terry had that type of card. Then he spotted another. He looked down at Terry's still form. _Oh my lord, Terry, just what do you plan to do with this?_

The knocking came again and Jamie hurridly put the deck back together and went to the door. He cracked it open slightly and saw Sinclair waiting in the hallway. Jamie poked his hand through the slightly ajar door and deposited Terry's deck in his hand for him.

"Everyone's asleep." Jamie lied.

But Sinclair believed it, he nodded silently and said a whispered 'See you tomorrow.' and left down the hall, probably to one of the other's rooms. Jamie closed the door quietly. He took a look around the darkened room. Terry hadn't changed and Knowledge was sitting in his chair breathing softly, as if he were asleep. Jamie sat down in his chair he had pushed against the wall and saw no reason to stay awake. He closed his eyes and sleep once again claimed him.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

It wasn't until some time later, hours after Jamie had fell into a sound slumber, that Terry mumbled and cracked his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. He just lay there, staring. Thinking nothing, saying nothing, just looking at a pastel white ceiling that was doing nothing special at all.

If someone was just watching Terry, they would have just seen a teenager laying on a couch staring at nothing. Until he shot up, quick as a fox, and his eyes started darting all around the room. He continued looking around, like a mouse does when it knows a snake is near. Then all of a sudden, he screamed in a voice that awakened Jamie and Knowledge with a shock…

"HOLY SHIT!"

Then, just like Knowledge, he immediately fell back onto his couch. His body had taken just as bad a shock as Knowledge's but because of Shadi's influence, it wasn't as crippling as what he experienced.

But his chest was aflame. All the nerve endings on his chest were bursting. Even the way his shirt rubbed against his skin from breathing was like scratches on his torso every time he inhaled. The muscles in his limbs tightened involuntarily to keep his body still, even trying to raise his neck up above his chest, which caused his chest to move, was an unbearable feat to the teenager. He forgot all about the disturbance that made his sit up like that as he took notice to his body. He laid a hand over his chest, and loudly cursed himself, sucking in a quick breath through his teeth making a 'sssss' sound echo in the still room. He removed it off his chest and looked at it, shaking in the air, like it too was as sensitive as his chest.

"Te-"

"Holy shit…" mumbled Terry to himself, cutting Jamie off.

"What is it?" Jamie asked, leaning forward in his chair. So surprised at that rude awakening that he stayed put in his seat.

"Holy….Oh, my God…." Terry said, realizing what kind of shape his body was in and how he kept commenting to his discovery. He heard his friends but wasn't listening. His body called him back to sleep and he could be heard mumbling words like 'holy shit' and 'wow' and 'oh my God' until he fell asleep again.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Re'-Sha, having reclaimed control of her 'hosts' body was standing outside of Terry's door. Just staring blankly at the door and thinking. _I could easily break this door down, kill the three of them and make it that simple..._

A voice, the voice of Kwandao, rung through Re'-Sha's mind. _But you won't will you?_

_No,_ Re'-Sha replied inwardly, _because that would be too simple._

_That's not it. You just love to see people suffer, you sick witch. That's why you didn't kill those people in that library. And kept pushing that boy until he snapped and nearly took you out. And why you put, of all people, children through Games of Darkness. To the death! Letting them think it was just some trick like the show!_

Re'-Sha openly smiled, inwardly thinking to herself but outwardly, grinning at a door. She turned away from it and started slowly pacing back to her own room. _Like I told him, some say 'It's a terrible thing to watch a child die.' That's for someone with a heart. I don't have one, in more ways that one._

Just as the term says, 'In your mind's eye', Re'-Sha saw Kwandao appear before her. In her mind's eye. In the same clothing and face that Re'-Sha had come to 'accept' as her own when she took over this body. Kwandao stared at Re'-Sha, who had stopped in the halls.

"What?" Re'-Sha said aloud, bothered that the girl was even talking.

_I can't stand to look at myself..._Kwandao said, looking away from Re'-Sha.

"So don't look." Re'-Sha sneered with hands on her hips.

_But I'm not looking at myself. I'm looking at a spectre impersonating me, causing the world so much pain. In my name._

Re'-Sha's tone became much more serious. Her face became a scowl and she pointed at the vision. "You're more pathetic than Terry. He, at the very least, made an effort to stand against me but you just sob at yourself. Even his friend tried with everything he had to stop me, and you won't even begin to compare to them, pathetic girl."

Kwandao was crushed, the timid girl was crestfallen. And offered a simple, stereotypical, automatic response to that statement. _I wish I were dead..._

"So you could be rid of me?" Re'-Sha stepped closer to the image of herself until the other couldn't look anywhere but at her steel silver eyes. "It won't be that easy. Remember…"

Re'-Sha slipped the vest off her shoulders and, in the middle of the hallway, pulled the mini tee that she was wearing up above her chest and pooled it around her neck. Then she turned her back to the image of Kwandao. And reacquainted her with the scars that ran down her back from whips, chains, knives and even self-inflicted wounds. The bra strap that ran horizontally across it covered nothing, in fact it made the red and some swollen scars more apparent.

"You can join in everyone's suffering tonight too…" Re'-Sha said in a throaty, gravely voice.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

_I just want to officially put this out. Im going to write a sequel. But since i really havent finished this one completely, i need to do this first, then get some chapters done for the next set. That's going to take some time with summer winding down and work picking up. _

_I wanted to use this chapter to illistrate more about how different Re'-Sha and Janet really are. They're more of a mix of Yami Bakura and Yami Yugi in a sense. Yami Yugi and Yugi had the ability to speak to each other and see each other right? But not so for Bakura and Yami Bakura. Bakura never knew what the other was up to and was not much in control, if at all, of Yami Bakura. Some elements i mixed with Re'-Sha and Kwandao._

_Well, another chapter down. I hope the explanation to Soul Burning wasn't confusing. I tried to make it as simple as i could. But you can ponder how that will mix in the story later because in the next chapter, Lamar Vega gets his wish and steps up to challenge Terry. It's the duel that's been in the making since the two have met and i've named the next chapter accordingly..._

_Terry vs. Vega: The Long-Awaited War_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	28. Terry vs Vega: The Long Awaited War

_Disclaimer: Hello, you've reached the offices of 4Kids TV. The CEO, the guy down from him, the four guys and girls down from him and the rest of us are not here. So if you have any questions...keep them to yourself. And no, you do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. (fill in the blank)_

_Aw nuts..._

_I've been wanting to fix their document editors so i can put a proper break in between sequences in my story but they've been taking their time or just haven't heard me. Meh, oh well. So here we are at chapter 28, a lot longer than i would have originally put this thing down as. Though i haven't actually finished this thing off, it probably will not make it to 35-36 chapters. I just have to write them. _

_Many thanks to my reviews. I never ask for them but they are very welcome._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 30: Terry vs. Vega – The Long Awaited War

By: MarkMachine

Vega, who had a restful sleep despite the happenings of the night before, was restless. Antsy. He tried to shake those feelings off.

He was seated in the hotel's restaurant that was situated at the end opposite the main entrance to the tower. It had been built so that it could feed the hotel's guests as well as any office workers that sneaked down there for a quick bite. There was a window table that Vega was seated at where the view the window offered was exceptional. A view of a fountain that was set in a large open space. What made it unique was there were holes in the ground around the fountain and water would pump out of them in various amount for different effects. Vega found the sight calming because just like any other 17 year old before an important point in their lives…

He was nervous.

He was dressed in the same clothes he had from yesterday, freshly cleaned and delivered this morning via housekeeping. He was just in his tan jeans and his sleeveless black shirt, tucked into those jeans. He was still looking out the window but he was not unconscious to the looks from other people that were intrigued with an African American with gold hair. He didn't look at them, his choice of clothing and hair color wasn't their business. He went back to the slip of paper he had broght with him, his deck list. He knew all the combos and cards to his own deck but, like the fountain, it had more of a calming effect than anything.

He left his table, having already paid for his meal, and left that restaurant. He wandered around on the first floor until he reached the stairs leading to the downstairs rooms. He made his way to the banquet hall where the finals would be taking place. Crewmen and tournament staff were inside putting the finishing touches on the room. He just stood in the doorway and watched. Many of the workers noticed him but made no move to kick him out. They were setting it up for him anyways. It looked almost the same from last night but now, TV cameras had been stationed at various points around the Duel Ring and three banners with his, Terry's and the other woman's name were hanging from the wall. The ring had been set in the center of the room and on one side of the ring, there was a single plush looking chair. It almost looked like a throne, the way it was constructed, had a high back and a decorative headpiece on the top.

"That's my chair…" a soft female voice said from behind Vega.

"Don't bother me right now." Vega told the voice, knowing it was Re'-Sha behind him. He turned and stared at the woman, also wearing the same clothes as yesterday and the same silver eyes that stood out even in the well lit hallway.

"That chair is for the one that gets to watch you and Terry duel each other. That would be me." Re'-Sha said, looking past him at the chair herself. Vega said nothing, not interested in what she had to say.

"So that's the stage where Terry falls…" Re'-Sha said in a slow and deliberate tone. Still Vega said nothing.

"But I wanted to share something with you, orphan."

Vega felt a small quiver run up his arm.

"Back when I first 'met' you, when I gave you a tase of the Summoned Skull's power, I…"

Vega started to walk away, toward the far end stairs that were maybe 10 seconds away if he walked. He wasn't in a mood to hear about this stuff. Re'-Sha, however, continued to talk as she followed him.

"I struck to only hurt you. As a warning of what would happen if you came against me."

Vega was halfway across. Maybe 5 more seconds…

"But if you interfere in my business with Terry I will -"

Vega stopped in the hall, causing Re'-Sha to suddenly stop her speech.

"I don't care. Your business with him is just that. Your business." Vega said over his shoulder. "For some reason, you have your heart set on becoming Exodia or whatever. So Terry says. I already told you and him before, I came here to beat Terry. So stop bothering me."

With that, Vega left the hall and proceded up the stairs back to the lobby. Re'-Sha sat in the hallway, smiling.

"Well you got one thing right, Vega…" she said aloud to herself, "Terry very well might well lose to you…"

She turned to look back at the room through another set of doors at her end of the hall. "But make no mistake. That is the stage where he will fall against me."

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Terry woke up, feeling like he had been sleeping for days. The feeling you have when your body, right after you wake up, feels like a lead weight. He groaned and brought an arm up and laid it over his eyes. Warm sensations spread into his chest again and he let out a small sigh. _At least I think I can walk without looking crippled..._

He wiggled his toes and fingers, checking if they still worked, swung his legs off the couch and stood up. He fully stretched and his chest was still warm like he had got slapped hard in it. But nothing like the torture last night. _Whatever you did, thanks Shadi._

Terry staggered into the bathroom and managed to get himself into the shower. 15 minutes later, he felt refreshed and a lot better than when he woke up. He wandered over to his bag where he had the Millennium Items. He made a quick check through them, making sure that they were all there. _Well at least minus the Millennium Eye..._

Terry changed into some spare clothes he had since he had fallen asleep in his. He tossed them and put on a pair of dark blue jeans that were loose fitting and down the left pant leg, various types of Japanese Kanji stenciled in white and red, the colors of the country's flag. He laced up his simple white tennis shoes to his feet. He slipped a like colored shirt over it but he had made 'special' modifications to that shirt. It was, at first, a simple shirt that matched his jeans but he had intentionally cut the ¾ length sleeve off the right side, making that side sleeveless but with the other he had taken the sleeve and cut it into strips. He had tied a knot into those strips where they met with the armhole of his shirt. He slipped his Duel Disk onto his left arm, feeling more comfortable with it on than not. Finally, he picked up the Millennium Puzzle by the string and slid it over his neck.

The whole time, Knowledge and Jamie were still asleep on their chairs. Terry glanced at a clock showing it was already 2:00. He walked over to Jamie and stirred him.

"Hm…." Jamie groaned.

"Jamie, wake up man." Terry said. Jamie turned to the side and opened one eye to look at the teen. He recognized him but his mind was slow putting two and two together considering what had happened last night. When his memory caught up with him, he turned to face him and shot from his chair, knocking Terry back a step.

"Terry!" Jamie exclaimed! "You're awake!"

Terry ran a hand over his head. "To quote, 'Can I rent you out as an alarm clock?'"

Jamie just smiled an ignorant grin as he was so happy to see him awake and moving that he was speechless. That, unforturnately, reminded him of Knowledge. He turned to look at him, still asleep in his chair. Terry turned and looked at him.

"Knowledge…" Terry said.

Jamie turned to look at him. "Shadi visited me last night. He told me that you guys would be fine. But that he helped you out."

"I know, I saw him too." Terry replied.

"Huh? Weren't you asleep?" Jamie questioned.

"He saw me in my mind…" Terry said, trailing off.

"What for? And just what happened last night?" Jamie asked, pointing a finger into Terry's shoulder.

Terry walked over to Knowledge's sleeping form and patted his pockets, looking for something. When he found it, he fished it out of his friend's clothes and showed it to Jamie.

"The Millennium Eye?"

"Yeah…Knowledge took it from my bag. He's its Guardian now."

"What!" Jamie roared. He looked down at Knowledge and for a moment, felt a strong urge to just jab him in the stomach.

"I felt the same way. But I understand his intentions. He took it so he could try to get back Janet, in whatever way, from however Re'-Sha changed her. But when he used it, I could tell. I heard a noise I've always heard when im near someone with a Millennium Item.Re'-Sha must've too, because when I got to that room she was already there trying to get him to play a game against her. I stopped her but she tried to force him by beating on me."

Terry visibly shook, recalling the exchange he and Re'-Sha had and even then had easily beaten him. Even through all the challenges he'd been through, she still could whip him, at least in using Dark Power.

"Then something happened. Black fire started to surround Knowledge and all of a sudden, Blue-Eyes was there! Real to life! Knowledge could even control it and he told it to kill Re'-Sha. And when it attacked, I jumped in the way."

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Why would you do that?" Jamie asked, now leaning back on one of the arm rests of the chair he was asleep in. Terry continued to stand.

"Re'-Sha apparently is just the spirit of the Millennium Ring. Most of the time, that's all we see. When Knowledge attacked with Blue-Eyes, it was the other person that was out at the time, Kwandao. And I just jumped in the way…"

"You know what, Terry? That all sounds very similar…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Terry asked.

Jamie shifted in his seat. "Well, before I got out of the hospital, Re'-Sha came in to see me."

"She what!" exploded Terry.

"Yeah, she GAVE me the six Puzzle Cards I used to come here. But before she disappeared, it seemed like she was having a headache. And she said something to me in a different voice, 'Don't let it win.'"

_Really? So does Kwandao have some kind of control of Re'-Sha to take control of her body when she wants?_

"Also, that black fire you were talking about? I saw the same thing…" Jamie trailed off and then his eyes lit up. "I saw the same thing right before she attacked me and Vega with that Summoned Skull!"

_So I guess that answers if Re'-Sha CAN do Soul Burning..._ Terry thought solemnly to himself.

"You're leaving?" Jamie asked Terry.

"Yeah." Terry said. "So wake up Knowledge and let's go." Terry moved toward the door.

"Terry, I don't think we should." Jamie said, not moving from the edge of the chair.

"Huh?"

"Terry, Knowledge looked like he was _dying_ last night. He needs to rest but I don't want to leave him alone either. Or the rest of these Millennium Items of yours. Im going to stay here."

It was a decision that Terry didn't like but one that was really blatantly obvious. He wanted his friends there, it wouldn't be so difficult with them there. Suddenly he recalled his conversation with Shadi, where he tried to anger him. One of the points he made was relying on his friends…

Terry walked back over to Jamie, taking a sideways glance at the clock as he did. 2:20. He put a hand on his shoulder.

"Damn, you've grown up old man." Terry said with a smile.

Jamie was taken aback initially but he snickered and held his stomach while he laughed. That got Terry started too and they shared a good laugh. When it died down enough for Terry to speak again, he put a hand on Jamie's shoulder.

"Alright, I'm counting on you to take care of Knowledge." Terry said, placing the Millennium Eye back in Knowledge's lap and heading for the door. He opened it and glanced back at Jamie, giving him a thumbs up. He closed the door behind him.

He stood with his back to the door in the silent hallway. He exhaled a long breath that did absolutely nothing to calm the onslaught of nervousness and anxiety that jumped in his body as soon as he closed the door. He knew today was the day. Today was the day that he would remember the rest of his life.

He remembered back to when he first put the Millennium Puzzle together and how one particular thought had occurred to him. That he wasn't afraid to die. He'd been a fool and stupid to say such a thing. He'd seen just what kind of power Re'-Sha had and still has over him. She'd put two innocents in as pawns in her first duel against him, she'd attacked Jamie and Vega, she'd killed six innocent kids to 'win' Puzzle Cards, she destroyed Janet Rush's personality and turned her to a dark, sinister duelist, and now she'd helped in putting Knowledge out. He'd been a fool to believe that he would just win in the end and everything would be set right. That it would be that simple. But it wasn't. Life and death mean a lot more to you when you actually see someone die. He now valued his life and wanted to come out of this with it. He knew that he would beat Re'-Sha. It wasn't that that worried him now.

It was the cost that such a victory would be to attain.

_It's time..._he thought to himself. He started walking down the hallway to the finals, one nervous step at a time.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

"Welcome, one and all! You've been waiting for this moment! The final matches of Battle City!"

Travis Sinclair was walking in the center of the Duel Ring speaking into a microphone that he had. Behind him were Terry, Vega, and Re'-Sha all standing there silently as Sinclair spoke to the wave of reporters and cameras in front of him. And least he forget, a live TV audience.

"The battles were rough, fierce and displayed the best duel talents this city had. But if you thought the matches in the semi-finals were excellent, you need to stay with us and watch the best of the best!"

Vega listened. _I'll give it to Sinclair, he's good at what he does._

"These three duelists behind me are world-class talents. They can only be described as world-class because there is no other designation worthy of them. Except one. The Champion of Battle City! Duelists, to your places!"

Re'-Sha moved to the seat she had been assigned. Like she had told Vega, the throne was hers and it offered a nice view of the field. Terry was on the left side of the field and Vega had taken the right side.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Jamie was upstairs watching the opening of the Finals with a surreal kind of feeling. Apparently, they were airing highlights of the semi-final matches and basically pumping the TV audience up for the duels. He saw they had mixed the duel to some, for a change, fitting music and showed snipits like Last Warrior being summoned, Terry's forced discarding of Scorpio Dragon which he smiled at, Exodia attacking, Black Magician, Black Magician Girl and Black Magician of Chaos, Blue-Eyes' and Red Eyes' power stuggle, and parts of them drawing and playing cards to their Duel Disks.

"Heh, they got my best moments…" Knowledge said slowly. Jamie turned, he hadn't noticed that he had awakened.

"How do you feel?" Jamie asked.

"Feh, I still feel like I got He-Man bitch slapped…" Knowledge groaned, rolling his eyes.

Jamie snickered. "At least it _sounds_ like the old Knowledge."

Knowledge rolled his eyes again but turned and gingerly leaned to see the TV.

"That's the Battle City Finals?" he asked. The little music video was now over and they saw a shot of the field with Vega standing to one side and Terry to the other.

"Yeah…" Jamie said, letting the words hang.

Knowledge glanced at him. "How do you think he'll do?"

Jamie leaned back on the sofa and exhaled a long and loud breath before replying, "I don't know. I don't know."

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Vega was standing on his side of the field, just staring. As was Terry. Both had their differences but in the light of one moment they were thinking alike. That the duelist opposite me is the last step to my ultimate goal.

Two gentlemen came from behind each duelists respective sides of the field with their decks on red pillows. They both took them and walked to the center of the field. They handed the other their deck and began to shuffle.

"I've been waiting a long time for this." Vega said. Both he and Terry were just about even in height. If anything, he stood an inch or so higher than Terry.

"You didn't bring your friends…" Vega noted.

"They're watching upstairs." Terry replied.

"To watch you fall?" Vega said, offering Terry back his deck.

"To watch me take down Re'-Sha." Terry said, taking his deck and offering Vega's back. Vega hesitated and glared at him.

"Like you told me…if you don't take them seriously, if you go in thinking you're going to win just because you're not dueling her, you will lose."

Terry's eyes widened at that statement. Vega took his deck and started walking toward his side. Terry was thinking as he did. _You know what? Vega just schooled me without even playing a card._

He got back to his side of the field and slipped his deck into his Duel Disk. _He was right. This Millennium Puzzle doesn't make me better than him. It just added more responsibities to my life. And now one of those responsibilities is mixing with one pleasure. It will be a pleasure to duel against someone like you, Lamar Vega!_

Vega slipped his deck home into the disk. _I can look at him and tell. I can see it. He isn't looking past me. It's here and now. One step at a time. One step along the road to our destinies. But I can see my destiny, the future I want, right behind you, Terry._

Vega pointed to Terry, completing his thought aloud. "Terry, I will not be denied!"

"Vega! Neither will I! My goal that I'm fighting for? I have to surpass you and overcome you to get to it!" Terry called back.

Sinclair looked at both Terry and Vega. "Duelists, are you ready?"

Both of them nodded.

"Bring on the noise!" Terry shouted.

"Duel!" the two of them called out in unison.

"I'll take the first move. Draw!" Vega called out. He picked up two cards out of his hand, holding them between his index and middle fingers. "I'll set one reverse card, and then summon Newdoria (1200/800) in defense mode!"

The reverse card appeared slightly to Vega's left and then Newdoria, sitting on a card version of itself appeared. It was a scrawny, pink colored monster with small limbs and a thin midsection. It had armor on itself, green slacks and a spiked belt that was covering the area where it's eyes would have been. It sat on one knee on its card with its arms crossed.

Vega looked down at the back of his monster. "I'll tell you Newdoria's special effect. When it's destroyed and sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, I can destroy one monster on the field."

Terry scowled at Vega, who ended his turn. Terry began his turn and drew. Vega was watching the whole time and keenly picked up when Terry drew his card, his eyes grew a bit wider. Like he saw something in that card he liked. _Anything that he likes i don't!_

Terry looked down at his card, a card he hadn't played since he gotten it. It would be a valuable tool, but a costly one. He slipped the card into a slot on his Spell/Trap zone. "I'll set one reverse card!"

He picked up another card from his hand. "Then I'll summon Disc Fighter (1000/1000) in attack mode!" The monster card appeared on Terry's field and after a brief flash of white light came from it, a average, adult sized figure stood on the field. Whether it was covered in a black suit or that was his skin wasn't able to be determined but the disc it carried, green in it's center except for the outer edge which was light blue, drew you attention.

"Disc Fighter, (1000/1000) attack Newdoria now! (1200/800)" Terry called out. Vega raised an eyebrow to the attack order but didn't even flinch as the disc was hurled from Terry's monster's hands. It collided with the crossed arms of Vega's monster and a green explosion of light followed afterwards. _The fact that my monster will destroy his if he destroyed it by attacking didn't faze him. Or he didn't wan't it out to threaten him and got rid of it with a weak monster._

As if reading his mind, Terry spoke out, "Vega, don't think that I'm going to LET you pressure me with a monster like that!"

Vega smirked. "The duel's only begun. It's just begun…"

Terry smiled, then pointed to his monster. "From the effect of your Newdoria, and since it's the only monster on the field, my Disc Fighter (1000/1000) is destroyed." Just as Terry spoke Vega's monsters name, rays of yellow light started to shoot out of the chest and back of his monster. When he finished speaking, the light illuminated the whole body of Disc Fighter and after it faded away, it was gone.

"Now that Newdoria is in the graveyard…" Vega started saying. "Set Card, Open! Return of the Doomed!"

"Return of the Doomed?" Terry repeated.

"Yes, this Spell Card lets me, at the cost of 1 Monster Card from my hand, add one monster that was destroyed in battle back to my hand!"

"Grrr…." was all that came out of Terry's throat. Vega picked up a card from his hand and showed it to Terry.

"I'll send my Possessed Dark Soul (1200/800) to the graveyard…to take back my Newdoria." Vega said, in the pause, discarding his card into the graveyard.

"That'll end my turn." Terry said.

"My turn! Draw!" Vega said, glancing at his card then looking at Terry. _Nice. I destroyed one of his monsters, got the monster back, and set myself up with a shot at a direct attack. But..._he glanced down at the reverse card on Terry's field.

"I'll summon my Wall of Illusion (1000/1850) in attack mode! Direct attack!"

A wall appeared on Vega's field, within it was a face of a woman with pale, almost graying skin and wild, loose red hair. Her face almost seemed like it was stuck in the wall and a low, almost whisper-like moan was coming from it. As soon as it was solidly on the field, the ends of the face's hair started to flare out from the face, then they shot out as the face screeched in a high tune. Terry brought his arm out to shield himself from the ends of hair. His Life Counter ticked down to 3000.

TERRY LP: 3000

VEGA LP: 4000

"That will end my turn." Vega said.

Terry lowered his arm and looked at him. _From the first turn, he's kept me at a monster disadvantage. It's not like I don't have something stronger than Wall of Illusion, (1000/1850) but I can't leave myself open for another direct attack. Wall of Illusion returns any monster that attacks it back to its owners hand after calculating damage._

"What's wrong, Terry? Are you worried that when you draw your next card, its just a turn closer to losing?" Vega asked with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face.

"Hardly, like you said, the duel's just begun! My turn! Draw!" Terry shouted. He looked at his drawn card, Big Shield Guardna. (100/2600) _Excellent! This card can protect my Life Points for a while._

"Big Shield Guardna in defense mode!" Terry called out, smacking the card down onto his Duel Disk. "Then I'll set two reverse cards and end it there."

"My turn! Draw!" Vega called out. He looked at Terry's field, making his observations. _Hmm...he's changed his plan a little. He's playing more defensive now with Guardna and now three reverse cards on the field. It wouldn't be wise to attack now, I'd be at the mercy of whatever traps he has set._

"I'll set this reverse monster!" Vega stated, calmly slipping the face down card down. "Then I'll turn my Wall of Illusion (1000/1850) to defense mode. That'll end my turn."

"Hmph. I thought you would've come at me there." Terry thought aloud.

"Not necessary." was all that Vega said.

_Not necessary?_ Terry wondered to himself. "My turn! Draw!" he said. _I wonder what that's supposed to mean. Is that reverse monster something I need to worry about? I only have three cards in my hand right now. I can't use them all up._

"Well, I'll summon my Dark Blade (1800/1500) in attack mode and end my turn."

Vega narrowed his eyes. _Attack mode? And not doing anything to capitalize?_

"My turn! Draw!" Vega said, controlling his excitement in drawing his Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) at that point. _I have my key card! But I can't summon it now, that'd be suicide. There are three reverse cards on his field, along with a defense position Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) and an attack position Dark Blade (1800/1500). I'll have to get Terry to spring some of his traps on my other monsters._

Vega reached for the reverse monster on his disk. "I'll flip summon my reverse monster, Slate Warrior!"

The reverse monster card on Vega's field flipped itself up and an image of a Slate Warrior card appeared. The monster stepped out of it's card, a blue skinned and bald monster with heavy, dense yellow chest armor. It's arms hung down well to it's knees and its hands were oversized and hefty. It raised those arms in a fighter's stance, veins tracing over its knuckles.

_I knew I should've paid more attention to that card! _Terry thought but said, "When Slate Warrior is Flip Summoned, it's ATK and DEF are increased by 500 points." On cue, an ATK/DEF counter appeared next to Slate Warrior showing it's stats increasing from (1900/400) to (2400/900).

"Slate Warrior! Attack Dark Blade (1800/1500) now!" Vega called out, pointing to Dark Blade. But he noticed the smirk on Terry's face when he made the attack.

"Got you, your Slate Warrior is a goner!"

_Good, spring all those Traps on my lesser monsters. _"Just how do you figure?"

"With this! Reverse Card, Open! Reverse Trap!"

"Reverse Trap reverses all the increases and decreases to ATK and DEF for the turn that it's activated. Slate Warrior's ATK and DEF now go down!"

"But that's not it, Vega. Consider it this way. I know how you've been playing. You've been 'testing' me. Seeing what im made of, holding back." Terry said, his eyes narrowed and his voice lowered.

Vega glanced at his Red-Eyes and was so surprised at his astuteness that he didn't respond.

"So I'll do you a favor. I'll start playing seriously. Right now. With the activation of this card! Reverse Card, Open! Blood Transfusion!"

"What!" Vega yelled.

Terry Trap Card flipped up on the field, an image of one arm, a human one, laying on a table with a black cord in it's arm that was leading to another arm, a inhuman one. It too was lying on a table and it's arm looked strong, muscular and brawny. The human one looked a lot weaker, paler and thinner. Much like all the life had been sucked from it and sent into the healthy looking arm of the monster.

"Another of my 'X' cards, one that I got when I received my Scorpio Dragon. You're the first to see it, Vega! Blood Transfusion is a Trap Card that has a cost of 2000 Life Points."

"2000 Life Points…" Vega whispered back to himself. _That kind of cost for one card must have a powerful effect!_

TERRY LP: 1000

VEGA LP: 4000

"When I pay those Life Points, I can search my deck for 1 Monster Card and add it to my hand. And the card that I'm going to choose is my Scorpio Dragon!"

"A card that moves monsters to your hand instantly. Not bad." Vega said.

"But that's not the end of it. When I move that card to my hand, if my opponent has 2 or more monsters on their field, I can Special Summon that monster to my field!" Terry raised his card straight into the air then brought it down onto his Duel Disk. As soon as he did, a radiant while glow started to form behind him in the shape of a sphere. A large shadow started to form in that light and as the light faded away, the form of Scorpio Dragon was coiled behind Terry and let loose a roar over Terry's shoulders. Slate Warrior didn't even flince, or notice, because it continued to move toward Dark Blade. Right then, the short little monster with a headdress resembling a bird and a broad smile across it's face appeared. It moved in front of Dark Blade, held it's arms out and transparent rings floated away and passed over the advancing Slate Warrior. As soon as they passed over him, the monster turned into a black and white version of itself. An ATK Counter appeared showing that his attack had fallen to (1400/0). Once that was done, the little monster disappeared and Dark Blade brought both of it's blades up in front of it's chest, crossing them. Slate Warrior got within punching range and, since it was taller, brought down a thunderous punch to the crossed blades. The swords held, but not before letting out a resounding clang that vibrated off them. It held it's fist there until Dark Blade shoved it's blades upward and forced Slate Warrior to slightly stagger with it's long arms in the air. Dark Blade pivoted, spun on it's feet and performed a spinning slash across the chest of Slate Warrior, destroying it in a quick instant. Vega's Life Counter ticked down to 3600.

TERRY LP: 1000

VEGA LP: 3600

Terry stared down Vega as the last of what was left of Slate Warrior disappeared off the field.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

Knowledge, who was still extremely sore but could manage, immediately took notice of the card Terry used to summon his Scorpio Dragon.

"Scorpio Dragon is on the field, but…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, pretty high price to pay." Jamie said. "Thought that was a nice combo to use the full effect of Blood Transfusion before he couldn't use the Special Summoning effect of it."

"With only 1000 Life Points, he doesn't have any room for mistakes anymore." Knowledge said. "But then again, he won't be making any."

"Hm?" Jamie said aloud.

"Look at the two of them. They've seen each other play a little, they know what their opponent's best cards are. I don't think either one of them will be making mistakes, it's just gonna be who's gonna break the other's strategy first."

Jamie stifled a small grin when Knowledge mentioned 'best cards' but continued the conversation.

"So even with the Life Points in Vega's favor, you still don't know who's going to win?" Jamie asked.

Knowledge looked at Jamie. "Do you?"

Both friends looked at each other for another moment before simultaneously exhaling a long breath and turning back to the TV.

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

The two duelists stared at each other for a moment, thoughts going through their minds.

_I could've used my Blood Transfusion card earlier but I'm glad I waited. With it out now, and when it comes back to my hand, I'll have it on hand when I need it next. And I'll have my best monster out quicker than Vega can get to his Red-Eyes Black Dragon._

Vega looked down in his hand as he thought. _That Blood Transfusion card is powerful but I don't see why he used it now. He put himself in danger with the difference in Life Points. He doesn't have the room to maneuver much now. Red-Eyes alone can't beat Scorpio Dragon, I'd need something else to beat it, and I don't have anything like that in my hand._

"I'll end my turn." Vega announced.

"My turn! Draw!" Terry looked down at his drawn card. Sasuke Gathering.

"Scorpio Dragon! (2950/2500) Attack Wall of Illusion! (1000/1850)"

Scorpio Dragon raised its head up and particles of light started to collect in its mouth, preparing for the strike. The stars on its backside started glowing and the hair in it's mane flared out from some unseen wind. It rose in the air so it was perched well above Wall of Illusion and Vega.

"Twilight Burst Stream!"

The blue explosive stream of energy flew out of Scorpio Dragon's mouth straight down at Wall of Illusion, encircling it in the energy. It was only a second later that that energy just exploded, kicking up dust and spraying fire from the site where the attack came from.

Vega could be seen with an arm raised to shield his eyes from the explosion and as he lowered them, standing straight up with arms to his side, he was looking at Terry with a fierce stare. _Heh, he's got that 'I-can't-believe-he-hurt-my-Life-Points look right now._

As he was finishing that thought, small orbs of white, blue and yellow light started to surround Scorpio Dragon.

"After damage is done, the monster that attacked Wall of Illusion is returned to it's owner's hand." Vega said in a monotone.

Right before Terry lifted the card from his Duel Disk, he heard his dragon growl fiercly at Vega. Terry smiled knowing that at least the monster didn't seem to like Vega as much as he did.

"My monster comes back to my hand, but I'm not done. Dark Blade, (1300/1000) Direct Attack!"

Dark Blade, who's attack power had now dropped from the other effect of Slate Warrior, ran across the field, blades trailing behind him as he sprinted. When he got within his range, he skipped once then jumped in the air. Vega watched him fall toward him, a light above the monster casting a shadow on the front of it. It looked like a hideous animal coming for him. He raised the arm that held his Duel Disk up, trying to use the center portion where his Life Counter and graveyard slot were like a shield. The swipe from the blade came down quickly, quicker than he could bring up his arm to block and before he could stop his body from stepping backwards as if to dodge. He looked down at his Life Counter to see it drop to 2300.

TERRY LP: 1000

VEGA LP: 2300

Vega looked up at Terry. "You don't really think you can win, do you?"

Terry didn't smile, didn't smirk, didn't break his face from the flat expression he had put on it.

"We'll see. Won't we?"

_xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox_

_That last line..."You don't really think you can win, do you?"...i heard it from some old Batman movie, forget who said it, but i wrote it not realizing who said it and went to re-read this and remembered. Odd. Lol._

_Anyway, the second most anticipated duel just got underway. Don't let the Life Point difference fool you, these are two of the best. And this match has just begun. As you can see, i finally put that other created card i mentioned way back in the 3rd chapter, i believe, to use. _

_I like to use created cards. More so monsters to Spell and Trap Cards. Monsters are easier for me to come up with. Spell Cards and Trap Cards, i usually just have to check if the effect i want to give them isnt already in use with another card or something. But i will not be using a lot. Just a couple in this duel._

_Next chapter, Terry and Vega's duel continues. Vega brings out some of his best cards to force Terry into a corner. As well as Red-Eyes tears up some of Terry's plans. But he isn't without an escape. Check in soon for the next chapter, one called Arise! Black Skull Dragon! Guess i don't need to say which monster will be appearing..._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	29. Arise! Black Skull Dragon!

_Disclaimer: There...what you didn't hear it?...What? i said it again just for you...man go get your ears checked out!...Alright, alright, this is the last time...idontownit...you heard it right?_

_Many apologies for not uploading sooner. Work has become something like "Only the Strong Survive" and im barely surviving. But enough about that! The duel continues with Terry taking on Vega in the second to last duel of the tournament. As you can expect, Black Skull Dragon will make an apppearance, but a new monster will come down to challenge it..._

_With this new monster, i must put a disclaimer because as i was writing this, no other card in the manga, anime or card game had this monster's name. But in a recent edition of Yu-Gi-Oh R, this name was used. I did not copy this name and i didn't change it's name because i thought of it first (least i think i did). But it it completely different from the one in that manga. If you're familiar with it, you may know the name of the card im refering to._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 29: Black Skull Dragon, Arise!

By: MarkMachine

Terry took a card from his hand, setting it in his Spell/Trap zone and ended his turn at that point.

"My turn! Draw!" Vega said, snatching the top card from his deck. "I'll play this Spell Card from my hand, Graceful Charity!"

Terry nodded.

"I can draw three cards…" Vega did as he had said and observed his new hand. He didn't even have to really think about the choice he made. He took two cards from his hand. "…at the cost of discarding two."

"I'll set one reverse card, then summon my Newdoria (1200/800) in defense mode."

Terry grimaced, the monster he had destroyed in the first turn of the duel was back again.

"That ends my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" Terry looked at his card casually before turning to Vega's field. He currently had Newdoria (1200/800) in defense mode and one reverse card. The time was perfect, but the cost for playing his next card was going to be pretty heavy. Much as he wanted to try, he knew it was useless to even venture out a guess about what that reverse card on Vega's field might be. He had only seen Vega play against Knowledge and that was a duel that hadn't revealed all his deck. Then again, the two duels Vega saw him play against Ian and Jamie didn't either.

Vega noticed the hesitation and wondered what kind of move Terry was planning for this turn. He knew that Scorpio Dragon was still in his hand, but he only had Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) in defense mode, plus one reverse card.

Terry, meanwhile, had considered his options and was going to go to his card. _I hope this is the right move..._

"Reverse Card, Open! Sasuke Gathering!"

A Quick-Play Spell Card flipped up on Terry's field, depicting the top half of a scowling Sasuke Samurai and a red sunset in the background. Off to the faces' left side was a old Japanese scroll with fading Japanese characters written on it. Other figures could be seen there in the background behind the forehead of the samurai as well, taking up fighting stances but their faces and the front of their bodies shadowed by the setting sun, their shadows fell and stretched to the front of the card.

_Sasuke Gathering? I haven't heard of that card..._Vega thought to himself.

"This card has a cost of tributing one monster on my field so I select my Big Shield Guardna (100/2600)." Terry selected four cards out of his hand, leaving him with just one remaining.

"And I selected my Scorpio Dragon, Tribute to the Doomed Spell Card, Reload Spell Card and Skill Drain Trap Card to discard to the Graveyard." Terry said, slipping the four cards into his graveyard. Then he took up his deck and starting fishing through it as he continued to explain.

"Sasuke Gathering lets me Special Summon, after paying the cost, the same number of monsters with the name (Sasuke) in it as cards that I discarded! Vega, I have 4 monsters in my deck with Sasuke in their names!"

A white flash followed by the appearance of a long white cloud startled Vega. In the midst of that smoke, four small bodies appeared. Or rather they looked like they had started walking into that smoke from some unseen place. The smoke cleared away pretty quickly. On Terry's side of the field, standing in line in front of Dark Blade (1300/1000), were four monsters that couldn't have been half the height of Vega himself. Each one looked similar when compared to the others but they all wielded different weapons. One carried a single thin double sided blade. Another had both of his hands clasped around a set of katanas. A third had a huge, wide as his body, sword that was more of a medieval style. And the last forsake swords for a spear, equipped with a silver blade at its tip.

"Sasuke Samurais 1, 2, 3 and 4!" Terry announced proudly. Vega was less than impressed with that move.

"Feh, four monsters with an attack power of 200, 500, 1000, and 1200. That was a big price for lousy product, Terry." Vega scowled at him, and then pointed down at his monsters.

"I know all their effects. You plan on using the effect of Sasuke Samurai #4 don't you?"

"Ah." Terry acknowledged. "Sasuke Samurai #4 (1200/1200) attack Newdoria! (1200/800)"

A large, oversized, silver coin appeared on the field after Terry announced the attack. It was easily as big and tall as Terry was. "Now I'll try my luck. When Sasuke Samurai #4 battles with a monster, I have to flip a coin. If I call the outcome right, I can destroy the targeted monster with this effect."

"And not trigger the effect of Newdoria to destroy a monster when it's destroyed in battle." Vega added.

Terry nodded, then nodded toward the coin on the field. He called his choice, heads, and the coin spun rapidly jumping up just above the height of Terry. It landed on the ground with a light ping and bounced in the air, still spinning but much slower. When it came down this time, it started spinning on the ground. It finally stopped and lay down on the ground. Showing heads.

"Yes!" Terry shouted, pumping his fist.

"Tch…" Vega exhaled frustrated.

Sasuke Samurai #4, after the coin had disappeared, quickly crossed the field to Vega's territory. It held its spear at its end in a sword like grip and while he was sprinting, spun and used the momentum to swing the spear across the midsection of Newdoria. The monster wailed in a voice that sounded like it had water in its throat before it was destroyed and its polygons scattered away.

"Now your field is naked! Sasuke Samurais, ready!" Terry commanded. The three remaining monsters tightened their grips on their weapons and let out a simultaneous "Hai!" at his command.

"Attack!" Terry roared.

The three miniature warriors lept into action, ducking their heads and running with their weapons in hand trailing behind them. They reached Vega's position at the same time and each one cut at the duelist, their enemy. Vega had hid himself behind his crossed arms in preparation of the attack, though it did nothing to help. He looked over his forearms to see the three warriors skipping backwards back to Terry's side of the field. He could also see in the corner of his eye his Life Counter dropping.

TERRY LP: 1000

VEGA LP: 600

Vega scowled at Terry, unappreciative of now being closer to losing. He dusted off his shirt, still staring.

"Their attack power might not mean much, but their effects are what make these samurai so powerful!" Terry said.

"Ha! Sasuke Samurai #3's effect doesn't seem to agree with that theory." Vega said smiling, drawing four cards from his deck. "Sasuke Samurai #3's effect…when it inflicts damage to me, I can draw cards until I have 7 cards in my hand."

"And speaking of drawing cards, I'll play this Spell Card, my last card, from my hand. Pot of Greed!"

Terry drew two cards and barely looked at them. "I'll set two reverse cards and end my turn."

The smirk on Vega's face disappeared. _Why did he do that_?

Terry was in thought as he stared at Vega. Not once since he attacked with his samurai's had he looked anywhere but. His mind was elsewhere. _Sasuke Samurai #3 helped Vega out a lot more than I ever wanted to do. In his next turn, Vega's going to have eight cards in his hand and I'll have none. Heh, but if I have to be short on cards, so does Vega. One of the cards I set will see to that!_

_I can smell that trap a mile away._ Vega said to himself after a moment. _Terry, you attacked me with all your Samurai warriors but didn't move the weaker ones to defense mode. You're not dense, you know the effects of your own cards. Sasuke Samurai #3 gave me seven cards in my hand, all I have to do is attack your weakest samurai with a monster of mine that will inflict 1000 points of damage. Your weakest one is only 200 attack points strong. I just need a monster with more than 1200 attack points. But those reverse cards...I know one of them is a Trap Card._

"Fire Darts…Gamble…Magical Explosion … " Vega said to himself, aloud. Not loud enough for Terry to hear. _Any one of those kinds of cards could be under one of those two reverse cards. And if it's a card that inflicts damage to my Life Points, I could lose the duel if I attacked. _

_Wait a second._ He remembered back to when the Sasuke Samurais attacked him. _One of them had the effect of making me draw cards, putting Terry at a disadvantage. I can't image he'd attack with that monster unless...unless he was sure that it wouldn't matter. One of those reverse cards has to be something to affect my hand._

He looked down at his own reverse card, which had been sitting on the field for a short time now. _It's time to bring out some tougher monsters._

"My turn! Draw!" Vega said finally, breaking up his chat with himself. He looked at his card, Monster Reborn. _Monster Reborn..._

He started to think of all the monsters that had been played through this duel so far while he continued with his turn.

"Not so fast!" Terry yelled, pointing to Vega.

"What?" Vega asked.

"You've got a lot of cards there." Terry said with a smirk.

_I knew it! I knew it! _"So I have." Vega instead said coolly.

"Reverse Card, Open! Heavy Slump!" Terry said, sweeping his hand toward his reverse card as it stood up on the field. It glowed while Terry explained his card.

"Heavy Slump can only be activated when my opponent has 8 or more cards in their hand. Now you'll add them all back to your deck and only draw 2!"

Vega knew, he knew some kind of card effect was coming but he didn't expect this one. While he knew of Heavy Slump, it was one card that came out of nowhere. He fought to restrain his displeasure, snatching his deck out of its holder a lot more forcefully than necessary. He stuffled his hand cards back into his deck and took a good 10 seconds to shuffle his deck. Again, much more forceful than necessary, he slammed them back in, drew two cards from the top without bothering to look at them and let his arms drop to his sides. The duelist inhaled a deep breath, trying to calm down.

_Calm down, Lamar. Calm down. Being angry won't increase my chances of winning this duel._ He inhaled another breath, slowly, through his nose and exhaled it in a long stream through pursed lips. He felt just a little better, and brought his cards up to his eye level. He saw two cards, both Spell Cards in his hand. De-Fusion and Monster Reborn. _Ironic, I shuffled that card back into my deck only to draw it again...But how can I use it to finish off Terry?..._

"My turn!" Vega announced.

* * *

Re'-Sha, comfortable on her so-called throne, observed both duelists closely. In a sense, they were playing for her entertainment and that made her smile. She noticed Kwandao out on her left hand side, the side closer to Terry's field, just staring at the duel. The pathetic girl hadn't bothered her yet so she said nothing to the spectre to her eyes. Re'-Sha shifted in her chair, feeling the slow-to heal but small cuts in her back protesting against being rubbed by the throne.

She relished the feeling. For the amount of time she had spend locked in this weird Egyptian dreamcatcher, she had emotions. But no senses. Only sight and sound, no touch, taste and smell. Even pain, she relished having these sensations back and wasn't inclined to relive her 'judgement' from Annubis and go back to the bitter prision of the Millennium Ring.

Just thinking of the 'pain' in her back made her think of how much of it she wanted to give to Terry. All the work that she had done to just escape her personal hell in the Millennium Ring, the work to find a way to use God Sight, her ambition to become a whole person again, even if it was a monster, and her overwhelming desire to inflict damage on any people she crossed. All to have it stopped by one…boy…in her future. All the suffering and pain had one target instead of many. The one being Terry. When her duel would come against the boy, he would get to feel the pain she was saving for the rest of the world.

* * *

Jamie, up in Terry's room, was watching the duel on TV with Knowledge.

"Did you just see that move Terry put on Vega?" Jamie exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Knowledge said slowly.

"Aw, I can hear a 'but' forming already." Jamie said in a huff.

"It's nothing." Knowledge replied. He saw Jamie staring at him, leaning forward on the couch he was sitting on and looking right into his eyes.

"It's nothing, man. Seriously." Knowledge insisted.

Jamie didn't seem satisfied but at least stopped staring at him and turned back to the TV. Knowledge looked back at the TV too, thinking to himself at the same time.

_It really isn't anything I can put a name to. I just got this...hunch, this hunch that Vega is about to really do some damage. Bleh, a hunch. At this point, Terry just crippled Vega. There shouldn't be a reason to think he's going to come back. And even with all that, why do I STILL have this nagging hunch..._

"Just hope I'm wrong…" Knowledge mused under his breath.

* * *

Vega had taken another moment to think, trying to figure a way to use his Monster Reborn effectively, but had come up with the perfect monster to revive.

"Terry. Let me ask you something." Vega said, pausing the duel.

"Hm? What?"

Vega glanced over at Re'-Sha, and she at him. The two locked eyes and exchanged scowls then he turned to Terry again. "I talked to Re'-Sha before this match."

Terry arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"She told me that the attack she gave me was a warning. Even now, I don't have a lot of interest in the matter between you two. My one goal still stands, to defeat you. It's what drove me to win in Battle City. But if I beat you here, I will move to duel against Re'-Sha in the final duel. A duel that if the world played within the rules, you would be participating in. The final match of Battle City, the one to determine the Champion of Battle City. That's my ultimate goal. Yours, if it's true, is a much worldier goal."

"Terry! This is my question! Is it enough to defeat Re'-Sha just in a duel?"

_Is it enough to beat Re'-Sha just by dueling?_ Terry though to himself. The question made him pause and try to think about it. Would just a duel, even with the possibility of using Soul Burning, be enough to end all this?

"Before the duel ends, you must give me your answer. But right now, in this turn, you must first find a way to survive! Set Card, Open! Dragon's Mirror!"

The lone reverse card on Vega's field flipped itself up, revealing a Spell Card with a picture of a red dragon in the reflection of an oval mirror. The card started to fade and the same mirror appeared on Vega's field off to his side.

"Dragon's Mirror?" Terry said, unfamiliar with the card.

"Dragon's Mirror lets me remove from play the monsters needed for a Dragon-Type Fusion Monster from my Graveyard in order to Special Summon it to my field. In my Graveyard, I have my Summoned Skull (2500/1200) and Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) which I remove!"

In the face of the mirror, the two card images appeared and started to swirl together in a spiral of brown and black light.

"I'll summon my Black Skull Dragon! (3200/2500)"

As soon as Vega announced it, the mirror cracked. Black smoke began to pour out of the mirror's cracks and pool on the ground all around Vega's feet. The smoke stretched all the way across to Terry's side of the field as well. A low, deep growling could be heard in the air, and the ground shook with it. Terry looked down at the ground and saw a pair of red eyes look at him through the smoke on Vega's side of the field. He stumbled backwards in surprise from the sudden appearance of them. A pillar of that smoke shot into the sky from Vega's side and that same set of eyes, never disappearing, traveled up through it very slowly. The smoke around the monster parted like a curtain and the monster, floating above the ground, crashed down on the ground. In the same movement, it lowered it's neck down to the ground and roared at the row of Sasuke Samurais and Terry himself.

Terry's eyes widened and he felt a cold shiver run through his neck and back. The monster's eyes, those eyes, just pierced through his very soul and made his blood cold. Such a terrible and fierce monster. Terry's arms dropped to his sides and he had to struggle to not let the intimidating monster get to him much worse than it was now.

Vega saw the reaction, and the effort Terry was using to not look rattled. He would have smiled normally, but for some odd reason he didn't understand, he felt an urge to push him harder. To push him right to his limits and dare him to break past them to another level.

Or go down against the best that he had.

"Black Skull Dragon…" Terry said to himself. "Such power…"

"If this attack connects, I'll win the duel!" Vega exclaimed, then looked up at his toweringly tall monster. "But if this isn't the end of the duel…then I look forward to the conclusion!"

Terry though about what he was saying for a quick moment. The way that Vega had worded it, it sounded like the stern faced duelist was actually having a little…fun? Dare he say it? _Forget about that. I can survive this turn, but only if Vega attacks the right monster! Come on, Vega!_

"Black Skull Dragon! (3200/2500) Attack Sasuke Samurai #4! (1200/1200)"

Terry was shocked that he had chosen that particular Samurai. Vega wasn't nearly as worred. _I still have my Monster Reborn in my hand. Should Sasuke Samurai #4's effect destroy my dragon, I can revive it. But it's dangerous to me to leave a monster like that out, I'll destroy it with my first chance if I can!_

"It's your choice, Vega! Sasuke Samurai #4's effect now comes into play!" Terry yelled out, and once again, the silver coin appeared in the middle of the field. It shot from the ground like a rocket, spinning and flipping it the air. Terry again called the toss as heads.

It landed tails.

"No!" shouted Terry.

"Black Skull Dragon, attack! Dark Mega Flare!" Vega called out. The dragon opened it's jaws, showing off it's small keenly edged teeth and a flash of yellow and orange shot from its mouth. A beam that looked like a flamethrower ripped through the air toward Terry's monsters. Terry knew if that attack connected, it would be the end of the game.

"Reverse Card, Open!" Terry called out. "Curse of Anubis!"

The Trap Card flipped up onto Terry's field just as the demon dragon's attack collided with the spear-wielding samurai warrior. The fire spread across the ground in front of Terry's line of monsters and burned there while Terry began talking.

"This turn, I won't take damage from your attack, Vega. Curse of Annubis is a Trap Card that lets me switch all Effect Monsters on the field to defense mode. Moreover, when it's played, it reduces the defense power of all those affected monsters to 0 and prohibits them from changing position until the next turn."

_Man, that was close. Too close, if Vega hadn't attacked one of the Sasuke Samurais and went for my Dark Blade (1300/1000) instead, I would have lost. Dark Blade is a Normal Monster and it wouldn't have been affected by Curse of Anubis._

Vega was drawing some conclusions from the last battle. _I was right to figure that he would protect his warrior-type monsters. _

"Just wait! My turn isn't over yet!" Vega said to Terry, holding a card up to Terry. He had been so paralyzed by the dragon he hadn't noticed. He was holding up a Spell Card.

"Monster Reborn?" Terry asked rhetorically.

"Yes, it'll let me revive any monster in either of our Graveyards."

Terry's mind flew and started working immediately. The only worthwhile monster he had in his Graveyard…

"You mean…my Scorpio Dragon? (2950/2500)" Terry exclaimed. He had discarded it as part of the cost of playing Sasuke Gathering.

Vega didn't say anything, but slid the card into an open Spell/Trap slot. The Spell Card materialized on his field and then a green glow cascaded down the card until it transformed itself into a monster card.

"I don't need your dragon. I only require and need my Red-Eyes Black Dragon but that's not the monster I want to call. It's one of my own monsters! Posessed Dark Soul! (1200/800)"

The monster card appeared on the field as Vega called the name of it and the monster, with a body of hellfire and emerald green eyes, appeared on the field, crouched in defense position. It snarled at Terry, a loud, airy hiss that, after seeing Black Skull Dragon appear, didn't rattle him. He remembered back when Vega played his Return of the Doomed Spell Card in the beginning of the duel, Posessed Dark Soul was the discarded card that Spell Card needed to activate.

"And I'll use my Posessed Dark Soul's special effect! By sacrificing this monster, I can take control of all Level 3 or lower monsters on your side of the field!"

The Posessed Blood Soul, which had been kneeling on a card version of itself with it's arms cross, stood up and held up one hand. The four fingers of it started burning a darker shade of red than the rest of its body. It tucked it's thumb inwards and pointed the four fingers at Terry's line of monsters. With a loud hiss that sounded like "Sliiaaa!" the fingers extended from its hand, crossed the length of the field and wrapped themselves around each of the Sasuke Samurais left arms. Once that was done, what was left of the fiery monsters body started to travel through the fingertips.

The last of the monster left Vega's field and the four samurai turned to look back at Terry, four sets of green and glowing eyes looking back at him. The sign they were "possessed" by Vega's monster. Involuntarily, they floated from his side of the field to Vega's, leaving Terry naked save his defense mode Dark Blade (1300/1000) and one reverse card.

_I took all of Terry's weapons from him. But I still only have 600 Life Points left. Sasuke Samurai #2's effect would be helpful at this point if I could pay it. This monster can force both players to not use Spell or Trap Cards until the End Phase of the turn the effect is used. But it costs 800 Life Points to use. But the regular Sasuke Samurai will work as well. This one can destroy face-down monsters without calculating damage. _

_If he tries to defend with a flip-effect monster, Sasuke Samurai will destroy it. If he defends with a high defense monster, Black Skull Dragon will be able to crush them and let the Sasukes finish it._

Vega silently set a reverse card in his Duel Disk.

"Terry, it's your turn!" Vega exclaimed.

Terry gulped. His field only contained his Dark Blade and a revese card. He had no cards in his hand and Vega's field was completely full of monsters. His four Sasuke Samurai's and the Black Skull Dragon. Four sets of green eyes and one set of red eyes leered at him. He brought his Duel Disk up, level to his chest, and looked down at his deck. He could feel his heart pounding and thumping in his ears. He had a bit of trouble focusing his sight on that top card. It didn't help that the arm that Duel Disk was connected to was starting to shake slightly.

Vega noticed and heard the slight shaking of Terry's Duel Disk. He took a closer look at him and could see he was off. _Is he really shaking? No way..._ Vega didn't want to believe that at all, but the rattling noise continued until it drummed in his ears constantly. Like a drummer on a constant note. But Vega felt anger begin to boil within him. _At the first thought of losing, he freezes. Is THIS the duelist that I lost to?...No. The duelist that I fought was in the same situation, but managed to beat me. The one duelist that I've been chasing all through Battle City, is this his real form? Is this his real power? Is this all he really believes he's capable of?_ As Vega ticked off the questions to himself one by one, he felt himself getting more and more beside himself. He ground his teeth into each other until he spoke up.

"You…"

"Hunh…" Terry said, looking up to see Vega.

"You're starting to get on my nerves." Vega said calmly but deliberately spiteful.

"What?" Terry asked incrediously.

"What did you tell me at the beginning of this duel, Terry?"

Terry recalled what it was but was cut off from responding by Vega. "You told me you would not be denied. You told me 'I have to surpass you and overcome you to get to my goal.' You know what you're telling me now? I think you're afraid of losing."

"Losing?" Terry repeated.

"Duelists stuggle in their battles to be the victor, it's the essence of being one. No pride and no delight can come from losing. Duelists gain no respect by losing, and therefore we're left with only one option as a duelist. To attain victory."

Terry opened his mouth but Vega again cut him off. "It's a pretty simple formula. When you duel, you go for the win as hard as you can. But look at yourself now, Terry. When the prospect, when the thoughts, the possibilities, the chance of you losing becomes apparent, you freeze. Afraid of drawing that next card and maybe realizing all you worked to realize won't come to you in the end. Afraid that you'll lose. You know what, Terry? There's a simple term that can sum that up."

"That's life." Vega said simply. "And in life, you can't win all the time."

Neither Vega nor Terry said anything. The field was quiet for a few moments and all eyes had turned to Terry. Even Black Skull Dragon and the samurai were waiting for something else to happen. Terry's arm had stopped shaking but he was still standing still. His Duel Disk was level with his chest and his free hand was just floating over the top of his deck. Just then, that free hand balled into a fist.

"That might be true, Vega. You really can't win in life all the time but I have to thank you for telling me that!" Terry said, looking up at Vega with a proud smile on his face. He stood up to his full height with his chest out and head high. _Vega, you are truly the best duelist I have ever faced. It's no small wonder you are the King of Games. Powerful and wise at the same time. For this duel, it deserves nothing less than the best I can muster._

Terry explained his previous statement. "Life is like a duel. Or more like a duelist's greatest duel. Losses may happen…"

Terry then immediately ripped the top card from his deck, looked at it, and then lined it up to go into an open Spell/Trap Card slot.

"But we fight with everything we've got for that win! Spell Card! Coins from Heaven!"

"W-what!" Vega exclaimed, stunned Terry could draw such a card at this moment.

"Coins from Heaven lets both players draw cards until they have six cards in their hands!" Terry cried, reaching for his deck again, pinching the top six cards off the top of his deck between his thumb and index finger and drew them. Vega, meanwhile, drew six as well. Terry looked down at his hand and then pulled one card from it.

"This duel deserves nothing but the best that we're capable of…" Terry said aloud, echoing his thoughts but speaking more to himself than to Vega. He placed that card into an open Spell/Trap Card slot.

"From my hand, I'll play this card. Spell Card. Monster Reborn!"

The second the card was played, the entire area behind Terry flashed with a white light. Vega brought an arm up and narrowed his eyes to be able to see into that radiance. The light had made Terry look like a shadow. He was standing with one hand, palm up, pointing toward the sky. Another shadow began to rise from behind him, a long serpentine-like body.

"I revived my Scorpio Dragon! (2950/2500)" Terry called out, the light fading and an odd scowl on his face.

"Now, I'll set one reverse card, then play this other Spell Card. Polymerization!"

"Polymerization…" Vega said aloud, slowly.

* * *

"Here it comes!" Jamie exclaimed, standing up out of his seat.

Knowledge just turned and looked at his friend. "What the?"

"I got a chance to look at Terry's deck before he turned it in last night. He put some new cards in there, like the Sasuke Gathering but this is one of the ones I wanted to see!"

"Is it strong?" asked Knowledge.

"Ooh….heh heh heh…" was all that Jamie said.

* * *

"It'll let me fuse two monsters into a new one. The monsters I choose to fuse are my Scorpio Dragon…"

Terry then picked up a card from his hand, showing it to Vega. "And my Gilford the Lightning! (2800/1400)"

A sudden, for lack of a better term, wall of darkness appeared just behind and above Terry's position. Small white lights started to become visable in that darkness. The pattern of stars that made up the constellation Scorpio stood out from the rest of them. Scorpio Dragon and Gilford the Lightning, which had been placed on the field, jumped and flew into that space. Gilford then unsheathed the sword from his backside and held it with one arm. The body of Scorpio Dragon then started to coil around his body, except for his sword which stood up from the rest of the dragon. All within the center of the star constellation. After a moment, the body of the dragon started to glow in its violet color, with flashes of white and yellow within it.

Suddenly, the blade of the warrior started to morph into a different and more slender shape. You couldn't tell details because in the next instant, that sword came down on the coils of the dragon, cutting and falling away like the dead skin off a snake. The light faded and the body of the dragon fell away into nothingness as the new monster was revealed and descended from "space".

It had retained a lot of the physical attributes of Gilford. Muscular but lean muscular though you could only tell that in its upper body. The lower portion had been covered by a skirt that hung right to the ground. Black and glossy throughout though down the center was a single wide strip of purple with two strips, half the size, of a bright yellow going down the left side. A white sash connected that skirt to the monster's midsection which was left bare. The monsters skin color was that of the Scorpio Dragon, a deep shade of violet. It its right hand was a sword of a unique design. The hand guard was in the shape of a five point star. Two of the lower points led toward the lower half of the sword where the handle prodruded from the midsection of the two points. Two of the upper points stood out to the side of the remaining point. That remaining point had been extended, as it was the main blade of the sword. When you looked at it, besides the handle, it looked like a star.

Terry, who had been obstructed by the monster and its mane of grey hair highlighted with violet, stepped to the side so he could be seen with his new monster. The monsters eyes, Scorpio Dragon's blue but now with black surrounding the iris of its eyes, stared at the monsters guarding Vega. The patch of space above him shrunk and disappeared in the air.

"Fusion Summon! The Omnibus – Epsilon! (2500/2000 L8 Light/Warrior)"

"Epsilon?" Vega inquired. "What a curious monster…"

_And probably one that has some pretty damaging special powers. Though as it is, it's weaker than my Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)._

"If you're thinking this monster has special effects, yes it does." Terry answered for Vega. "First, I'll set a reverse card."

"And now…" Terry said, drawing Vega's attention back to him and away from his field, which only contained Epsilon and a defense mode Dark Blade (1300/1000). He had the two remaining cards of his hand in his free hand. But then Terry paused.

_That's true that if I did attack he would lose the duel. But I have no Life Points to spare. I can't attack recklessly. The three Sasuke Samurai's are still on his field and with the original one out, I can't defend with reverse monsters. And that means no flip effects. But I'm so close! That reverse card can't be anything to help Vega. Or could it?..._

Vega was watching with a controlled eagerness. His De-Fusion Spell Card was still on the field. If he attacked, he'd split that monster back up into its original fusion components.

Terry didn't know that however, he just saw a reverse card. And the idea that he could win in this turn if he didn't have to worry about that card was driving him nuts. One attack and this duel would be over, and he'd be that much closer to ending this quest Re'-Sha was on. But all of his instincts told him that that one reverse card was dangerous. Not every one that was set in a duel was dangerous but this one just reeked of it. His dueling instincts told him so. And even with that warning, he struggled to find a way in his mind to justify making an attack on Vega's monsters knowing that. A single bead of sweat had come down the right side of his face and tension was starting to reach into his system. Involuntary shivers and sweat started forming in the palms of his hands.

"I'll end my turn!" Terry said in a rush, like he had said it before his mind could catch up to what his mouth was saying.

"My turn! Draw!" Vega announced, unfazed by the drama Terry had just put himself through. Now it was his turn to sweat a little. _Terry wouldn't play that monster and leave it in attack mode if he wasn't confident he could take a hit. After all, all it would take is Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500) to attack his Epsilon (2500/2000) and then with the remaining Sasuke Samurai to end it all. But he has a reverse card as well..._

Vega closed his eyes, as if he was thinking, but then opened them again slowly. He inhailed a long breath and exhaled it as quietly as he could. Calming his nerves and relaxing his body, he prepared himself for the best or the worst. He had made a decision.

"Black Skull Dragon! (3200/2500) Attack Epsilon! (2500/2000)"

"Reverse Card…Open!" Terry exclaimed. His card flipped up on his right hand side and he swung his right arm over in that direction.

"C-Compulsory Evacuation Device!" Vega managed to get out. Terry had a smirk on his face from across the field as he explained its effect.

"When this Trap Card is activated, I can select one monster on the field and return it to its owner's hand. And the monster that I'm going to select is your Black Skull Dragon! (3200/2500)"

_So long as this effect works, I'll have done in that dragon and Vega's shot of winning!_ Terry thought to himself. He could feel the blood racing through his body as he watched Vega take in the effect of his card. And immediately afterwards felt the sting of cold as Vega reached for the trigger to one of his Spell/Trap Cards.

"Set Card, Open! De-Fusion!" Vega called back to Terry. "This Quick-Play Spell Card lets me return one Fusion Monster back to their Fusion Deck. Plus if both of the monsters that were used in the fusion are in the graveyard, they can be Special Summoned to the field."

Then an odd thing happened. Terry had expected his monster, Epsilon, to be returned and had stopped to pick up the card from his Duel Disk but Vega caught his attention as he did so. He looked up to see Vega with his Black Skull Dragon card in his hand. What Vega had done didn't register in Terry's head immediately. His spirit felt crushed and destroyed but then when he saw the card in Vega's hand, he just felt confused.

"De-Fusion's effect isn't limited to just on my opponent's monsters. I'll use De-Fusion's effect on my Black Skull Dragon!" Vega announced. As he did, the monster started to dematerialize from its feet up.

_If I used De-Fusion on his Epsilon, Id have to deal with a 2800 ATK monster and a 2950 ATK monster while I had no strong monster on my field due to Compulsory Evacuation Device. Better to have at least one monster on the field with a shot at taking his monster down._

But now Terry was laughing aloud.

"What's so funny?" Vega asked, pretty sure what he was going to say.

"You just left me with a clean shot at your Life Points! Don't you remember the effect of your own Dragon Mirror Spell Card? The one you used to Fusion Summon your Black Skull Dragon?"

"Ah." Vega said. "It says that I have to remove the cards from the game to Fusion Summon the monster I wanted. But at that moment…"

"From my hand, I'll play this card. Quick-Play Spell Card! Dimension Windstorm!"

"Dimension Windstorm?" asked Terry.

"I'm going to chain this effect to my De-Fusion card. Dimension Windstorm lets me return two cards that have been removed from play and place them in my graveyard. And now that those fusion material monsters are in my graveyard…"

A sharp noise, like a thunderclap rang out over the field as a fissure that stretched lengthwise across Vega's field opened up. Smoke began to creep over the lip of the fissure and a light from somewhere inside of it illumininated it in a red color. Terry heard a booming growl, full of bass, coming from within. Two black shaped appeared out the crack in the earth and the fissure closed itself up.

"I've Special Summoned my Summoned Skull (2500/1200) and Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) to the field, both in attack mode." Vega said, then he pointed to the face up Trap Card on Terry's field. "But the effect of Compulsory Evacuation Device hasn't been negated. So, Terry, choose!"

Terry grunted. _I didn't expect him at all to use De-Fusion on his own monster. It was a smart move that I didn't even consider. Compulsory Evacuation Device can only return one monster on his field to his hand._ He stopped looking at Red-Eyes and Summoned Skull to glance at his samurais. _Using the effect on any of them would be a waste, unforturnately. It's just between those two monsters. This deck is built around Red-Eyes but Summoned Skull still is stronger that Red-Eyes..._

"So…which will it be?" asked Vega.

Terry straightened up and pointed to Summoned Skull. "I use the effect of Compulsory Evacuation Device on Summoned Skull. (2500/1200)"

Vega pulled the card from his Duel Disk and saw the monster on the field start to just fade away into the air. He placed the card into his hand then pulled three cards from his hand.

"To end my turn, ill set three reverse cards and switch all my Sasuke Samurai's to defense mode." Vega said firmly.

* * *

_Unbelievable. How is this guy this good?_ Jamie thought to himself. _Everything that Terry has tossed at him he's managed to handle. And even though he's the one with fewer Life Points, I'd say he's the one in control of this duel_.

"What a combo." Knowledge said quietly from his chair. Since he had been awake, he hadn't felt any better from his experience last night and was still cautious to even move. Thankfully, it didn't hurt to speak anymore.

"Yeah, I know. Vega is a beast." Jamie said as a camera panned up to frame the duelist's face. He was looking away from the camera's but his face was pretty telling. He was in the zone, a bomb could go off and he wouldn't even notice.

"You think Terry might actually lose?" Knowledge asked. Now Jamie loosened up and leaned back into the couch he was parked on. He folded his hands behind his head and let out a small chuckle before answering.

"I don't know, but I know the final battle is yet to come."

The TV showed a camera focusing in on Terry's monster, Epsilon.

Jamie smiled confidently at the picture. "Trust me, Knowledge. You haven't seen Epsilon's real power."

* * *

_Longer chapter than most. I did want to break this into four chapters but i went with three and made this one a little on the longer side. Don't think you guys that made it this far minded much :)_

_I've just about got the duel down for the final match but, like usual, i just have to write it. Work demands me more than this story. Hey, i have to eat to be able to write. But im now only one chapter ahead of where this story is...procrastinator..._

_Check in sometime for the next chapter, and the chapter that concludes the duel between Vega and his Black Skull Dragon versus Terry and his monster, Epsilon. The ending may surprise more than a few of you and what happens afterwards may surprise even more of you. The next chapter is called The Conclusion, Revelation and Resoultion. A name i should save for the final, fincal chapter but it seems appropriate. _

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	30. The Conclusion and the Resolution

_Disclaimer:...pshhhhh...HEY! Ok, not mine, now you mind not bothering me while i'm making lemonade!_

_Anyway, now that i'm decent now, back to business. Terry and Vega continue their battle with Black Skull Dragon taking on The Omnibus - Epsilon. The dragon is naturally more powerful but Epsilon seems to have some kind of effect that may even things out. And by the end of the duel, which we'll get to at the end of this chapter, Terry will come to a realization. Or two. _

_By the way, i chose the word "omnibus" for a specific reason, look it up sometime. Check under a latin definition. But that's for much farther in the future._

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 30: The Conclusion and the Revelation

By: MarkMachine

"My turn! Draw!" Terry said. Glancing at his card, Gryphon Wing, Terry knew it wouldn't help him now. _In order for me to win this duel, I have to beat Vega in one strike. Destroy him before he has a chance to think up some kind of counter to me. His Life Points are just about low enough to do that. So long as another one of his reverse cards doesn't stop me. _

"I'm coming for you, Vega!" Terry shouted.

Vega was slightly taken aback by that. He dug his feet into his shoes and tightened the grip on his cards, anxiety creeping into his skin and body. Vega watched Terry take one card from his hand and slip it into his Duel Disk.

"I'll set one reverse card…" Terry did as he said then took the remaining two cards from his hand and held them with his right hand.

"And now, I'll show you Epsilon's true power! I'll start my Battle Phase! Epsilon! (2500/2000) Attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon! (2400/2500)"

In one fluid motion, Terry forced the two cards he was holding into his graveyard and then pointed toward his monster.

"When my monster attacks or is attacked, I'm forced to discard all cards in my hand. But for each card that I discard, I can decrease the ATK and DEF or all my opponent's monsters by 300 for the rest of this turn!"

Epsilon held it's star-shaped sword in front of it's body and both duelists watched as what looked like currents of electrical energy started flowing from the monster's shoulder into the sword it was carrying. As the sword took more and more energy, it started to glow in a soft, almost sunlight-like aura. Then Epsilon threw the sword up in the air, watching it spin as it gained altitude like a ninja shuriken. It stopped near the ceiling of the room and held itself in the air like a star. Then a beam cascaded down on Vega's field, like a strong ray of sunshine, causing all of his monsters to cover their eyes or duck their heads to avoid the rays.

A row of counters appeared on the field in front of Vega's respective monsters. Sasuke Samurai was now at (0/200), Sasuke Samurai #2 was now at (0/0), Sasuke Samurai #3 was now at (400/400) and Red-Eyes Black Dragon was now at (1800/1400).

"Such an effect!" Vega hammered out. All of his monsters had been weakened and all of the Sasuke Samurai had been reduced to just about nothing.

"Epsilon!" Terry called out. On that command, Epsilon reached up with its right hand and the sword dropped from the air and landed in his hand, though the light remained and was still illuminating Vega's field. It clenched its weapon with both of its hands and the monster's eyes, blue iris with black surrounding it, started to fade to an all-around black color. It gave the monster a baleful form and was its signal it was preparing for battle.

"Attack!"

Epsilon raised its sword into the air, still clenching it with both of its hands. Light that was still flooding the eyes of Vega's monsters also started to cascade down onto Epsilon's sword. It illuminated the weapon with a soft white glow. Then the color started changing. It became dark, black, a haunted looking weapon compared to the light of the room they were in.

Epsilion took the blade and sliced downwards from its position. The sound of a thin object cutting the air was lost in the thing Epsilon created from that slash. Another rip in the air, another rip that seemed to lead into space, could be seen as the monster brought the sword down. And as it came down, the clear image of an object blazing through space could be seen coming straight for the opening Epsilon created. It took no time at all for it to completely fill the window Vega could see through, and then a massive chunk of space rock blasted through to the field, trailing a blue flame of gases and vapors. The rock crashed on Red-Eyes Black Dragon head on and an instant explosion of polygons, blue fire, white light, air and a deafening boom raided both duelists' eyes and ears.

"I…Did I win?...Is it over?" Terry postulated aloud. He was soon answered back by a rough cough and made out Vega with his eyes and face covered by his crossed arms. He lowered them and let out a smaller cough but masked it. The kind of cough you keep your mouth shut for.

"It's…not over yet!" Vega declared, his pride making its way back into his voice. "I was prepared for that attack, so when you attacked Red-Eyes (1800/1400) with Epsilon (2500/2000) I activated this Trap Card."

A small bit of leftover dust was blocking the view of this card Vega had activated, just to his left.

"Trap Card! Metalmorph!"

The last bit of the dust kicked away at the mention of Vega's cards name.

"This Trap Card allows me to increase the ATK of my monster by half of my opponent's attacking monster."

"But only when you're the one attacking, Vega!" Terry insisted.

"Right, but along with that effect, it acts like an Equip Spell Card and increases my equipped monster's ATK by 300 points."

Vega's Trap Card then shattered and a Life Counter appeared at his side, ticking his Life Points down to 200. Terry grunted in frustration, lowering his head and holding a breath as his arms shuddered with his growing aggravation. He had it planned out and STILL Vega found a way to save himself.

Vega looked down at his Duel Disk. More accurately at his opening to his graveyard slot. He was glad to have survived the turn and Epsilon's effect, but he was disappointed he wasn't able to find a way to save Red-Eyes from the strike. More like disappointed in himself. But he had to move on, he could bring Red-Eyes back and he was working on a way to strike back at Terry.

Terry moved on with his turn. "Now for my End Phase and Epsilon's last effect. If this card is on the field and I have no cards in my hand only in my End Phase…" Terry drew a card, a solemn look on his face. "I can draw one card from my deck. That ends my turn."

* * *

"AW! COME ON!" Jamie bellowed after watching Vega on TV manage to save himself from losing in the last turn. He patted down the couch, not tearing his eyes from the screen, grabbed something, and tossed an end pillow at the screen. It bounced away harmlessly and fell on the carpeted floor. It did very little to calm him down. This was his version of football. Terry was the home team and Vega had just made a goal line stance.

Knowledge, though also frustrated at Vega's play, had to give the guy respect. He hadn't lost to some fluke or flash in the pan duelist. He tried to stretch his arms out to the side to loosen himself up but immediately regretted it. He felt like there were needles tying down the muscles in his spine, he honestly could not extend his arms past a certain point. At least without not feeling, what he assumed, what it would feel like to intentionally tear a muscle.

"Channeling Nolan Ryan or something with that toss?" Knowledge casually asked, not trying to bring the attention to his situation with his body.

"That should've been it right there! That was it, and Vega had to go and mess it up!" Jamie said, standing and pointing at the TV from his couch. Knowledge looked over at him from his chair with a confused expression on his face.

"The stage was all set up, that would have been so perfect, ESPN would have had it make the Top 10 or something. I could have put that up on some website as the best way to end a opponent! That's how pretty it would've been if –"

"Jamie!"

Jamie looked down at Knowledge, a small smirk on the intelligent young man's face. What he said was far from what could be called 'intelligent.'

"Stop acting like a little bitch." he snickered. "You should just calm down, have some Kool-Aid, and look at…" he wandered off before turning back to the screen and not wanting to believe what he saw.

* * *

"Tch…damn."

That was all Terry had to say to what Vega just did. The instant Terry had ended his turn, Vega had countered by using one of his reverse cards. It turned out to be Call of the Haunted, which could revive one monster out of Vega's graveyard in attack mode. Red-Eyes had returned.

_Black Skull Dragon was sent back to his fusion deck by the effect of De-Fusion and the only other powerful monster I know he has is Summoned Skull and that is or was in his hand. Either way, only makes sense for a guy like him to bring back this particular monster. _

Vega seemed to mirror that thought. Terry looked and saw the guy looking at the dragon that floated above him with some pride sparkling in his smirk. But when he brought that smirk down to Terry's line of sight, it made him wonder.

"My turn. Draw!" Vega said. "Terry, you don't have but one card in your hand. In order for Epsilon's effect to kick in, you have to have a card to discard and you only have one."

Terry lowered his head, knowing he was right but not sure what he was getting at. _If he attacks, im forced to discard all my cards in my hand, which is just one, and reduce his monsters' ATK by 300 per card. Red-Eyes would drop to 2100 if he attacked. He'd lose!_

"Set Card, Open! Curse of Aging!" Vega swept his arm over his holographic card as it turned up to reveal itself. He flicked a card from his hand cards up into the air and caught it with his free hand, then slipped it into his graveyard.

"When I activate this card, I'm forced to discard one card. But for doing that, I can reduce the ATK and DEF of all my opponent's monsters by 500 points! Battle!"

Small threads of black lightning started to criss-cross over the body of Red-Eyes. Most of them found their way into its open mouth where a red orb was starting to form.

Terry ran the calculations quickly in his head, while he discarded his last card into his graveyard. "By Epsilon's effect, Red-Eyes ATK power drops to 2100!"

The smirk that had been on Vega's face this whole time suddenly burst into a toothy, arrogant smile. "But! Epsilon's ATK drops to 2000 from Curse of Aging! Red-Eyes, destroy Epsilon!"

Red-Eyes didn't move but on the command, the orb that had been gathering in Red-Eyes' mouth screamed out of the monsters jaws, black lightning still crackling off of it, speeding and leaving a tail of red light in its wake. Vega yelled in a grand voice over the blast of his dragon and the scream of it as it cut the air.

"You have no cards in your hand! Your monster savior is gone! This duel is mine!"

"Vega, I understand now."

"Wha-huh?" Vega blabbed out, totally unprepared for that kind of response.

Terry stared up at the passing attack, his face illuminated in a fierce red glow. His features were set in stone and his tone was serious. "Will just beating her be enough? Will that solve the problem? I understand what you're asking. I realized what it meant when you called back your Red-Eyes."

Terry lowered his head to face Vega but his eyes were looking toward Re'-Sha. "When you called back your monster, it made me realize. These monsters, whether you know it or not, are real. Real things must have feelings, they have to to exist at all. Re'-Sha and Exodia, even as one individual or separate, they have feelings."

Curiousity crawled into Vega's eyes. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning…that monsters like yours…ones that you use and stand by…they have to understand some of what you feel. Maybe even feel and share it themselves."

Terry thought back to the incident with Knowledge's Blue-Eyes. The look on his face. The rage he felt in his friend. Those emotions were understood by Blue-Eyes when it attacked Re'-Sha. The monster understood just what Knowledge had wanted to do to her. And it agreed with him.

It had attacked to kill.

Re'-Sha with Exodia…with a desire to just cause suffering, pain, misery to anyone she sees.

Terry closed his eyes in a long blink and opened them to look back at Vega.

"No, Vega. Just beating her will not be enough."

Terry pointed down at the card on his field. "I'll chain this card to your attack! Reverse Card, Open! Pot of Avarice!"

Vega's eyes narrowed at the mention of that card and he bit down on his own teeth.

He knew exactly what that card was and how it worked.

"Pot of Avarice…" Terry began as cards started ejecting from his graveyard. He took them up and picked five out of them then returned the rest to his deck. "This Spell Card states I must return five Monster Cards from my graveyard to my deck. The five monsters I choose are my Scorpio Dragon, Gilford the Legend, Big Shield Guardna, Disc Fighter and Sasuke Samurai #4."

Terry silently removed his deck from its holder and shuffled the monster cards back into the deck. He glanced up at Vega, realizing that, like he thought, Vega probably did know how this card worked. And what it meant.

"And after I shuffle them back into my deck, I can draw two cards. Now the effect of Epsilon comes into play again. When I attack with it or when its attacked, I have to discard all cards in my hand to the graveyard and your monsters take 300 damage to their ATK and DEF for each card. Your monsters lose an additional 600 points, Vega!"

Epsilon took its sword and held it in its right hand, then spun the sword so he was holding the weapon with the blade facing the ground. He brought the blade up against its forearm safely tucked away, turned his body so his left side was facing the oncoming attack of Red-Eyes and extended his left arm and hand. The warrior stared down the fireball as it approached him, not moving, not flinching. Instead of exploding upon touching the monster, the black dragon's attack was struggling to force Epsilon beneath it. Epsilon continued to repel the attack for a little while longer until he started to rise above the field, still holding back the fireball. As Epsilon rose higher, the fireball started to shrink more and more. As both duelists noticed, Epsilon was absorbing the attack, its violet skin in it arm starting to turn a bloody red color. The color spread to its chest and along its other arm. It traveled down the monsters covered legs and also spread into its face. The transformation had also altered how shadows reflected off of him. They were just black blotches in the shape of the shadows.

Epsilon, still floating in the air, started to form another fireball around its body, much like the last attack of Red-Eyes. It was just big enough to cover the monsters body but all that could be seen inside of it was a black silhouette of Terry's monster. The shlhouette moved, turning itself so it fully faced Vega's field, then it blasted off toward Red-Eyes. The monster dipped toward the ground, traveling just above it with extreme speed then it arched back up, acending toward the chest of the dragon. The sound of thunder mixed with a great roar from Red-Eyes sparked an explosion. A huge column of red and orange energy circled the monster. Much like Epsilon before, who had jumped back to Terry's field after inflicting that attack, only a silhouette of the monster could be seen, unmoving. Gradually, thin vertical strips of the dragon's silhouette started to be absorbed into the column. As it went on, pieces of the dragon started to disappear faster and faster. When it was about ¾ gone, what was left of it just dissolved into hundreds of tiny black dots. As soon as that happened, the column faded away into nothingness but the black dots started to lightly fall to the ground, the light from Epsilon's special effect, which was still illuminating the field, making them look like tiny twinkling stars falling to the ground.

TERRY: 1000

VEGA: 100

Vega and Terry stood looking at each other for only a moment. Vega looked down at his four hands cards, gazing but not really looking for anything. There was nothing there that could help him. He returned his gaze to Terry who had adverted his gaze and was trying to look anywhere but at him. At at that, Vega had a little laugh. Only to himself. _Does he feel bad or something?_

"Terry, in my hand, I don't have anything that can really help me further. Nor any kind of monster to fight back against Epsilon."

Vega looked up at the few remaining specks left from Epsilons attack. He extended his hand, palm up, and grasped one of them in a fist. He looked down at it as he continued to talk.

"I'm not going to drag this out any longer…"

Vega opened his hand that had the particle left of Red-Eyes, and it wasn't there. It had disappeared in his hand, much in the way his chances of winning this duel had done. He moved the hand to rest over the top of his deck.

"Whatever happened to fighting until the last moment?" Terry called out quickly to Vega, hoping to make him stop.

Vega smirked, genuinely amused he had said such a thing. "Got that from the show?"

Terry had, it was one of the few things he believed in. At least one of the few things he believed in that could apply to real life. But he remained silent to Vega's question.

"Well, I think you might've. But anyway, I make, blaze and follow my own path. I have no regrets. I played the best I could. I used every turn for everything it was worth. But I don't want to see a turn where I know the conclusion."

"Don't mix the show and the game, Terry. Miracles like they pull off don't happen that often. Believing in the cards yields you no better results here. And friendship doesn't make you a better or stronger duelist. As a duelist, you should be able to recognize when your window to win has closed. Mine has."

And with that, Vega let the hand he had been holding over his deck finally settle over the top of it. He looked toward Terry and spoke the last two words Terry would have never imagined him saying.

"I surrender."

TERRY: 1000

VEGA: (Surrender)

"And our winner! The number one ranked duelist! Terry Hairston!" Sinclair announced via microphone, stepping onto the duel field from his position where he watched the duel. "America, you've just watched a duel that should be remembered for a long time! Truly amazing!"

While Sinclair had been talking to his TV audience, Terry and Vega had begun walking toward the center of the field. The two met at the same moment in the middle of the duel field. Terry extended his hand first and Vega looked down at it instead of grasping it. Then he brought his eyes up to meet Terry's and started speaking.

"You said beating her wouldn't be enough."

Terry didn't say anything to acknowledge that. Vega let out a small sigh from his lips, slouching his shoulders slightly. Then he grasped Terry's hand in a firm grip as he spoke to him.

"My path is different than yours, but you're still an obstacle, Terry. You can't lose until then, until I can take you down." Vega said, tightening his grip as he spoke. Not enough to strangle Terry's hand, but to make his points known.

Terry nodded with a grin creeping across his face. Vega then turned and walked away, his head high. _You can't lose until I beat you..._He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at Re'-Sha, who was offering up some very obvious fake applause to Terry for winning the previous duel. He had come to understand what that girl could do over the time that the finals started. She was clearly out to do more than beat Terry in a duel. It's part of the reason Vega asked such a question to Terry. And he had confirmed his thought that he didn't either think a duel would settle this matter.

_You can't lose until I beat you...or you die._

Vega then continued walking away, leaving the duel ring and heading for the exit from the room, feeling a sudden urge to get away from the lights and gazes of the people inside the room. He walked into the hallway, standing in the center of it. He had his eyes closed and was replaing certain moves back in his head the best that he could remember them. It was a pointless gesture though, the end result would not change. And as he came to that realization again, he let out another sigh. But unlike the previous one, his shoulders slumped forward, bent slightly at the knees. A small scowl was across his face.

_This deck was perfect. Every move I made I know was the correct one. I didn't make any mistakes. But the results still haven't changed, Terry won and I lost. I lost..._

BAM!

Vega left the side of his fist planted on the side of the wall he had attacked. He could feel the tingling beginning to creep into his skin. But that pain, no matter how he tried, would not let him forget or not think about the disappointment he just endured.

* * *

Terry watched the sight of Vega punching the wall from the doorway that led into the hallway. As soon as he punched it, he ducked back into the main room. He walked over toward the field again with his hands in his pockets.

_Vega told me that you can't win in life all the time. If that's really true, it must be terrible to be a duelist like him. To know you can't win in life all the time but as a duelist, you have to play with everything you have to win. Is that the path that he's taken as a duelist?_

Part of the young man wanted to go out and offer condolences to Vega but he knew he couldn't. Vega wouldn't accept them. He probably wouldn't want to hear them at all. Terry had said it himself that he had to beat Vega to achieve his goals. What good would it do to apologize for that?

He walked from his position on the duel field toward Re'-Sha, who was still sitting but had received her deck back from Sinclair. She was in the process of searching it when Terry stopped in front of her. She continued shuffling through her deck as if she were alone. Then she stopped, and without looking up, asked Terry to beat it.

Terry glanced down at the top of the villain's head, unashamed to admit that if given the chance he would crack that skull. But that wasn't what he came to do. There was something he had wanted to find out first.

"Just how long are you going to stand there and –"

"Until I feel it's enough." interrupted Terry. "But there's something I want to know."

Re'-Sha let out an annoyed sigh and peeked up at him from her cards. One silver eye burned into his through strands of hair that partially covered her face.

"From Kwandao." Terry finished.

Re'-Sha snorted a laugh in surprise. "Why do you want to talk to her?"

Terry didn't respond.

"I mean, it's not like I 'could' comply and let you talk to that pathetic girl. But then I could jump into the conversation whenever I wanted..."

"And vice-versa." Terry said.

With that, Re'-Sha closed her eyes and threw her head back in a fit of hiccup-like laughs. He held a hand against her stomach.

"That girl has no power over me. Or over her own body when I'm using it." Re'-Sha said, her head still thrown back like she was talking to the patterns on the ceiling.

"Then you'll answer it. She was trying to hint something to me a while ago…"

* * *

_**Good question. Terry thought to himself.**_

_**Kwandao reached down to her Millennium Ring, "It was…is a relic of my family. I can't surrender it except in a duel."**_

_**"Relic of your family?" Janet asked.**_

_**"Yes, it's been a part of my family…" she turned to look at Terry. "Since it was created."**_

_**Terry felt like she was telling him something but he couldn't pick up on it. It was in the back of his mind somewhere. Just then, a speaker broke out over all of them.**_

_**"All duelists, please report to the Skybox."**_

****

* * *

****

"She was telling me something about the Millennium Ring. Re'-Sha…Kwandao is the Guardian to that item. Isn't she?"

Re'-Sha, even though her face wasn't turned toward him, visibly tensed at Terry's accusation. She slowly lowered her head so she could look at Terry and moved to stand up in his face. She stood maybe half a head lower than Terry and looked up at him with burning silver eyes and a fierce scowl over her face, which narrowed her eyes into slits.

Terry, though not seeking to draw her into a battle of Dark Power, didn't back away from the glare he was receiving. He stood up to his full height over the woman, squaring his shoulders and slightly sticking his chest out.

"I'm right, aren't I? That's the only reason I can come up with as to why she didn't just give that Millennium Ring you call home to the first person willing to take it. She can't relinquish it except in a duel and I'd be willing to bet you'd stop her from making such a wager if she could be rid of you."

Re'-Sha's voice dripped with subtle hints of violence. "Though you are right, it doesn't matter. You're the one im going to get rid of. Leave."

Terry didn't press his luck any further. He turned and headed back for his side of the duel ring. Sinclair had announced that this duel would take place within a few more minutes after the TV crews had appropriately set themselves up. Terry took that moment to walk over to the wall where the first prize had been locked up. He got his first look at the crystal looking Duel Disk that was sitting in the case, surrounded by what looked like purple velvet.

_Nice looking Duel Disk...would look a lot better attached to my arm..._Terry wondered to himself. He tried to think of things other than the duel he was about to engage in but it wouldn't work. It's all he needed to be thinking about but what he didn't want to be thinking about.

He stared at the slight reflection of his face off the glass of the case. Dark brown eyes that could've been mistaken for black were starting to get surrounded by bags. He rubbed his eyes and saw they looked a little better. His caramel-brown hair was not that long, maybe an inch or two all-around but it was gelled and spiked. The face that he had grown up with for all of his 16 years of living had become what he was staring at now. And the funny thing was...

The Eye of Anubis formed on his forehead and Terry's Millennium Puzzle glowed.

* * *

Re'-Sha had been in the midst of checking through her deck for the third time, but then she noticed that Terry was over by the prize case. It wasn't all that short of a distance and she could clearly see the reflection of the Eye of Anubis off his forehead reflecting in the glass.

* * *

Upstairs, Knowledge saw a glow coming from the pocket of his jeans. He reached and fished out his Millennium Eye, holding it with his thumb and index finger. The object just glowed, not doing anything else. Both he and Jamie glanced at each other

"What in the world…" Knowledge trailed off.

"What did you do now?" Jamie exclaimed, not at all excited to see that item glowing. It only meant trouble.

"I didn't do anything!" whined Knowledge. "It must be Re'-Sha or Terry doing something."

"Well, you're the one with the item, can't you tell what's going on?" Jamie demanded.

"I've had this thing for all of a few hours, I don't know a damn thing about it!" Knowledge shot back.

The two of them continued to bicker back and forth, frustrated that they didn't understand what was happening.

* * *

Re'-Sha hadn't stopped looking at Terry since she saw the Eye of Anubis on his forehead in the reflection of the glass. She knew that Terry was much more secretive about using the little bit of magic he had in public. So this kind of display really got her attention. By now the eye had faded away and she could see that he was just staring at the glass.

She watched him take on step back away from the case, place his hands in his pockets and started walking toward her. He walked slowly, purpose in his steps but with his head slightly bowed. It was enough where she could see that he was walking with his eyes closed.

By now, Re'-Sha was really interested in what Terry was doing. Enough so that she got up from out of her chair, or throne, and stared at his as he made his way toward her. But he stopped. He stopped in the center of the duel ring which was straight ahead of Re'-Sha. He ran both of his hands through his hair, sweeping it all toward the back of his head and flattening it out a great deal. Though all the strands would not lay flat, some stuck up like quills on a porcupine. He brought his head up so it was not bowed anymore, opened his eyes and Re'-Sha gazed into a set of emerald green eyes, nothing like the dark brown ones of before. The gaze combined with Terry's new look gave the woman pause for the first time in a long time.

"Who…who are you?" Re'-Sha questioned the newcomer.

The emerald eyed young man looked down at his forearms and hands, turning them over like he was new to them. He looked like he was about to speak but then he stopped. He turned toward the right and started walking toward one end of the duel field to his assigned spot.

"Miss Kwandao Kawamura?"

Re'-Sha shook her head and turned toward the origin of the voice, which turned out to be Sinclair, motioning her toward her spot as the final duel was about to start. She moved to her end of the field, her steps slightly shaken from the new development. When she got to her end, he was only staring at her. Re'-Sha took that oppourtunity to connect to the Millennium Puzzle.

_A different colored set of eyes isn't going to help you win this duel, whoever you are._ Re'-Sha thought.

_I don't think unfit duelists should talk._ Was the reply she got back.

_You're not my superior, pathetic boy!_

_Maybe not, but tonight is the last night you're going to see outside of the Millennium Ring, Re'-Sha Shythe. I'm going to take the Millennium Ring from that girl even if means the death of me. Or her._

Re'-Sha, completely ignoring Sinclair as he readdressed the TV cameras, was surprised that Terry would dare to make such a statement. She couldn't even convince herself that this was Terry at all.

_You wouldn't dare to try to kill Kwandao._ Re'-Sha sent as her reply.

_...The old Terry wouldn't._

_"Old Terry?"_

_Make no mistake, Re'-Sha...It's a change in appearance...but this is still the same Terry that you've been itching to kill. You can look to Shadi for why, but blame me and you for what I've become._

_What the hell?_

_No more talking, begin the duel!_

And with that, Terry brought out enough of his Dark Energy to sever the connection between him and Re'-Sha.

Re'-Sha visibly winced and squinted her left eye in reaction from being cut off in such a way. _I can blame myself for this new Terry?_

* * *

Upstairs in Terry's room, Knowledge and Jamie we're watching the introductions and they had definitely noticed the change in appearance to Terry. They were discussing it as Sinclair narrated over the previous duels that Terry and Re'-Sha had won to get here.

"What just happened to him, Knowledge?" Jamie asked, not breaking his gaze from the black picture box.

"How would I know?"

"How about this? The Mill-en-ni-um Eye?" Jamie said, sounding out all of the syllabils to the word.

"How about this? I don't barely know how the thing works! It's not it came with an instruction booklet or Terry gave me a crash course on this hunk of gold." Knowledge said, really exausted from answering that question every time, right around every five minutes, that Jamie brought it up. He wanted to leave the room to get away from him, but the one time he felt good enough to stand, he had managed it with some effort. But immediately after rising to his full height, he felt an awful spell of dizziness and nausea in his stomach.

"I don't know what he did, but i'll bet all the money in my pocket it has something to do with that Millennium Puzzle." Jamie said under his breath.

"Huh? Isn't that damned obvious?"

"No, Knowledge. Let me tell you something. NOTHING good can come of those things." Jamie had his head bowed and his voice became low.

Knowledge looked at his friend with an incredious look. "Terry only got better as a duelist because of these items. He's got to be one of the best duelists the world could offer. And he's probably putting his life on the line to save-"

"Damn all that!" Jamie interrupted, fury beginning to burn across the features of his face. Knowledge was shocked into silence; he rarely saw Jamie angry.

Jamie stood up and stared at the TV as they focused in on the picture of a smirking, green eyed and hair slicked back Terry Hairston. His left hand, hidden from Knowledge's view since he was on his right side in his seat, trembled and shook as he clenched it into a fist. He shook his head negatively as he spoke.

"This wouldn't be necessary if the Millennium Items hadn't been created in the first place and Re'-Sha put into one of them. Like I said before, nothing good can come of them. And now Terry probably did something to himself that changed him forever…"

* * *

_Amazing._

It was the only word that Terry thought of.

Or rather the only word that he felt summed up what had happened to him.

He felt strong. Tough. Cocky.

Everything he wanted to feel when he was Terry Hairston.

When Shadi approached him and gave him his weapon, he didn't really realize what it was until he had awoken from his meeting with him in his mind. And it hit him fast. It was much more of a 'transformation' thanks to using his Millennium Puzzle to change his eye color and slicking his hair back, a la 1960's. And it was his to shape as he liked. He had spent much of that night after learning about Soul Burning to turn this weapon into something he wanted. He finished that night and held it within himself. Speaking to it and conversating about things to it. A part of him wanted to bring it out in his duel against Vega, but it didn't seem right.

Or more like necessary, he now reasoned to himself. Old Terry was enough to take out Vega. But Re'-Sha required something different.

Something powerful.

Something special.

Something completely different.

Something like a split personality.

Something that didn't have a problem, if it came to it, with inflicting bodily harm.

Something that wasn't soft-hearted..

Something that Terry Hairston was not…

But he was now…

* * *

_Like i once said before, "Make everything you touch, your own." Yami's are played out and are toooooo cute and friendly and all that other blah, blah, blah in fictions these days. Makes me sick. So when i came to the point where i wanted to do this, i had originally thought about a Yami and some way to make "it" different. But the more i thought about it, the better a split personality sounded. And made more sense in my story. And opens possibilites having a Yami couldn't. _

_The next chapter...well, what's there to say? The end is coming. The final duel begins: Re'-Sha in her drive to reclaim Exodia takes on the enemy that would've originally stopped her cold. But Terry is not himself. Who is he? Friend or foe? Willing to sacrifice Kwandao or just bluffing? As different as he's advertising or the same burger but with a new bun? (sorry, it just jumped in my head)_

_Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter. Terry vs. Re'-Sha: Oddities_

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	31. Terry vs Re'Sha: Oddities

_For those that are still reading this story and have stuck with me, much appreciate it. I haven't have the urge to really finish the story with some problems in real life. Nevermind that though. I've been writing a lot more as of late and im pretty close to finishing the story._

_There was one other thing that i was thinking about doing with my story and i wasn't sure if i wanted to write in a pretty big change for one of my characters for the future. You'll read about it later in the story but it's given me ideas on how to do things next. _

_But that's all for the future. _

_Hope you enjoy the story!_

* * *

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 33: Terry vs. Re'-Sha: Oddities

By: MarkMachine

Sinclair, though he had noticed Terry's appearance change, made no move to question the young man about why he had done so. For him anyway, it brought a little bit of a edge to the event. He looked much more serious in this way.

"Terry, are you ready?" he asked, positioning himself in the middle of the sideline.

Terry nodded.

"Kwandao, are you ready?" Sinclar asked, using the girl's other name. She nodded as well.

"The final duel of Upperdeck's Battle City Tournament is about to commence. Terry Hairston and Kwandao Kawamura…BEGIN!" Sinclair yelled out, raising both of his arms into the sky, and stepping away from the center of the sideline.

Both duelists merely glared at each other as they plucked out five cards from their decks. Without verbally acknowledging him, Re'-Sha drew a sixth card and made it known she would take the first move.

"I'll play my Stone Statue of the Aztecs (300/2000) in defense mode!" Re'-Sha called out, slipping the card on her duel disk and pointing her open palm out toward the lime colored statue. Two open palms facing toward Terry's field openly decided this was a monster made for being in defense mode. A set of softly glowing red eyes in the face of the statue let you know there was something that made this statue more than a pillar of carved stones.

"I'll set one reverse card and end my turn there." Re'-Sha said, finishing her move and placing a hand on her hips.

Terry, however, took his time. He leered at the statue. _Stone Statue of the Aztecs doubles any Battle Damage id take from attacking it. Maybe she's just going for Exodia for the quick win._

Terry exhaled a breath and raised both of his arms into the air, stretching the muscles. He let them fall to his sides and turned his head to the left, an audiable cracking noise heard as he cracked the bones in his neck. He repeated the process turning his head to the right. Then he finally set his fingers on his deck, his Duel Disk level with his eyes.

"My turn! Draw!" he glanced over at the card as it passed. He placed the card down horizontally. "I'll summon Warrior: Dai Greyfar (1700/1000) in defense mode. Then I'll set one reverse card."

Terry didn't say anything, but raised his free right hand and with his middle and index finger, motioned for Re'-Sha to "come get it." His narrowed green eyes now more noticeable and prominent in this fashion.

Re'-Sha wasn't impressed and pulled the top card from her deck with no announcement to such. She looked over her card and lined it up with her Spell/Trap Zone slot.

"I'll set one reverse card." she reached and held a card toward Terry so he could see. "I'll summon my Mystic Tomato (1400/1100) in defense mode. That ends my turn."

Terry shook his head and clicked his tongue. He let a small chuckle escape his mouth.

"What's so-"

Re'-Sha didn't get a chance to finish. A loud yawn filled the semi-silent room, causing some murmurs from the other onlookers and TV crews. Re'-Sha was just annoyed and becoming more so.

Terry had his eyes closed as he expressed his boredom. He opened them and looked around at the confused and upset faces staring at him. He opened his eyes wide.

"I do something wrong?"

* * *

Jamie looked at the TV with little more than the skin surrounding his face keeping his jaw from falling out. He could not believe what he was seeing.

"Just what the hell is he thinking?!" Knowledge instead inserted, waving his hand at the image of Terry on TV. "He's looking like he's going to pass out or something!"

"Yeah, he's acting really weird…" Jamie said, hearing his friend but not saying more. _He's been acting really weird since he made that change to himself. What did he do? Just what kind of changes did he do to himself down there?_

"…way he's playing is nothing like he usually…"

"Yeah…" Jamie said, getting to his thoughts again. _He looks more...confident in this way. Like he doesn't care what she does. And I know that even before he wen't to duel in the finals, it was a fight he wasn't taking lightly. But now...i mean, he's acting like she isn't anything to him._

"…screw him over. Or you over."

"Huh?"

"Back in the present, great thinker?" Knowledge smirked. "You must have been out of it to let me call you names like that."

"Call me what?" Jamie said, sitting up and lowering his voice.

Knowledge just snickered. "Im going to borrow a line from women all around the world…"

Jamie blinked, like he had _really_ missed something.

"You don't listen to me anymore, do you?"

* * *

"Oh, it's my move? I was going to go get a bite of pizza." he looked over at some of the cameramen, turning his back to Re'-Sha "You guys want anything? I hate sausage but I'll –"

"Make your damned move!" Re'-Sha screamed, brandishing the eye across her forehead. The woman cried out and brought a quick charge of Dark Energy to her free hand, much like a large baseball that she could palm. She shifted so she was in a good throwing position and sidearmed the shadow ball at Terry, who still was standing with his back turned. Just as the ball crossed the middle of the field, Terry turned quickly with his hand extended, palm out and fingers separated. The shadow ball stopped short of Terry's hand, held back by an invisible force but shaking violently as it tried to get to its original target.

Terry widened his stance, gritting his teeth. She still was light-years away from him in terms of power.

The ball started to gradually reduce in size, shrinking more and more until it became a small dot hovering in front of Terry's hand. It stayed that way for a few moments until a audiable _poof_ noise announced that the ball was now gone.

Terry slowly lowered his arm, speaking as he did so. "If you're so quick to get the game really started…"

At that point, his hand was on his side. He then raised it again and pointed toward the ceiling. Re'-Sha was about to look toward the sky but then she saw the Eye of Anubis form on his forehead and the one on his Millennium Puzzle started to burn in a golden glow as well.

"Then let's get this Game of Darkness started!"

As soon as he finished stating that, black and violet swirls of colors started to envelop the backside of Terry. It expanded and stretched to accomidate Sinclair and all the TV cameras watching the event. But the moment they were within, they were frozen solid and seemed like stone shadows. Once it covered the field, a still silence filled the small space. There was no sense of depth in the area. You could still see the ground you were walking on but to look up and to the side offered no solice. The darkness that surrounded them gave the feeling you were both near the edge but the farthest from it at the same time.

* * *

The same silence that surrounded the field was in the room Jamie and Knowledge were sharing. It didn't last long.

"What…what did he just…" Knowledge led on.

"He started one…he created a Game of Darkness…" Jamie replied.

"…Unbelieable"

"Knowledge, something isn't right with Terry. He told me once before that he didn't have the heart to put anyone through a Game of Darkness."

"What?"

"It was right before the whole thing with Blue-Eyes happened…"

* * *

FLASHBACK

Jamie opened the door to the guest room, seeing Terry at work with his cards and occuping the couch. He instead chose the nearby comfortable looking chair to sit in.

"How's it coming?" Jamie asked of Terry's work with his deck.

"It's coming along. Making some changes, adding some new cards, getting rid of some old cards…"

"Heh, in other words, you're not making much progress." Jamie said, rolling his eyes and leaning into his chair.

Terry groaned and stretched his limbs from his seat on the couch. He laid his arms across his knees and looked down between his legs at the carpet below him.

"Vega and Re'-Sha are two totally different type of opponents. What would help me beat one wouldn't necessarily help in beating the other."

"So? You can always force Vega to surrender with that Millennium Puzzle of yours!" Jamie laughed. Terry cracked a smile, raising his head to look at his buddy. Jamie then got quiet and leaned over to peer at Terry's puzzle. Unforturnately for him, since Terry was hunched over, the puzzle was hanging lower than it usually was.

"Jamie, are you that interested in my zipper?" Terry said, uneasily.

Jamie played along. "Yeah, seems like it looks a little faulty, mind if I test it?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead and catch a beatdown while you're at it!" Terry said, a sinister smirk on the edge of his mouth.

"Naw, I was just looking at the puzzle. I wanted to ask you something about it." Jamie said, not looking up at Terry. "What exactly does it do?"

Terry realized he wouldn't be able to finish working on his deck right then so he set his cards aside, swung his legs so he was laying on the couch and picked up the Millennium Puzzle with one hand, dangling it from the string.

"It's weird, the way I understand it, it's only limited by your imagination. And yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Terry started to twirl the puzzle. "I've already used it to look through solid buildings. And to levitate someone. I don't doubt that if I wanted, I could become a straight up magician using this thing."

Terry stopped twirling the inverted pyramid and turned it so the eye on its front was facing him. He looked down an

d away from it as he continued to explain.

"But every time I use it to do those things I start feeling really tired. Fatigued. Sick to my stomach and it scares me."

"Scares you?"

"If using it for a little bit makes me feel like im going to pass out, then what would happen if I used it to its max?"

Jamie stood up from his chair, looking down at his best friend. "What about this thing with your body? Does it hurt?"

Terry let out a dry laugh. "I still don't feel all that good from dueling Ian. Course I was doing more than using Dark Power."

"Dark Power? That the name for it?" Jamie asked.

Terry nodded.

"Do you only have a certain amount of it?"

Terry shrugged. "Not sure. That might be possible. All I know for sure…is that Re'-Sha can use it much better than I can…She'd kick my sorry behind all up and down the street comparing our skill in using it."

"What about Games of Dark-"

"NO!" Terry shouted, changing the mood of the conversaion completely. Jamie blinked in surprise, but didn't press Terry about it. Terry pressed the puzzle against his forehead.

"The Game of Darkness. They're supernatural games bent by the controller of the game. But they are meant as a tool for weeding. Only the strong survive, and only the strong could have the Millennium Items to serve that pharaoh. Winning meant power. Losing meant death. Not losing your soul, not forgetting your memories, not turning people into cards. Death."

Terry pulled the puzzle away from his forehead and stared at the eye, unblinking and seemingly pretty unemotional.

"I can't put someone through a Game of Darkness."

"Terry…" Jamie slowly whispered, concerned.

"I can't do it. I can't kill. Not even her if – "

_Tweeeeet….twttt_

"What the?" Terry shot up out of his seat, eyes darting around the room like he was following the flight of a fly buzzing around. He knew that sound…but there's no way…It wasn't the sound that Re'-Sha's Millennium Ring gave off…it was different…

Terry turned so he was laying chest down on the couch and reached over the arm of it to his backpack. He rifled through the contents, the gold trinkets clanging against each other as he accounted for all the items.

Except one.

And that's when he noticed Knowledge wasn't here.

"Damn that guy!" he jumped up out of the couch and before Jamie could even react, Terry was out the door.

* * *

Jamie finished recalling his tale, not bothering to tell about how Terry found out about Knowledge having that eye.

"He said he wouldn't…he said he couldn't…" Jamie was speaking to himself now. "There's something wrong…and look at him, he looks so carefree about doing it. Terry's snapped."

"The way you say it, Jamie…I agree with you. But it's something he decided to do of his own will. Say what you will about these Millennium Items, Jamie. But what kind of power do these have compared to the ones wielding them?"

Jamie was so taken aback by that statement he shook his head and blinked at Knowledge in surprise.

"What do you mean? What are you saying to me?" Jamie asked.

"Well…between you, Terry, Janet, and even Natasha, you all tried to teach me a little about thinking. Maybe not to think with my head so much. Have some faith. Think with my…with my heart. I'm not used to that."

"Yeah, did it start to get through that noggin of yours?"

"Some." Knowledge admitted, ignoring the crack at him. "But Terry made that choice. I guess…I guess I can believe that he knows what he's doing. And hasn't done something to himself."

* * *

Re'-Sha took in the sight of the Game of Darkness like looking at the walls of her home. They felt comfortable, familiar, something she was used to seeing. The only thing was that this time, it wasn't her house. She didn't figure that Terry would have it in him to start a Game of Darkness. Then again, the boy that was standing across from her wasn't the same person she'd been dealing with.

Re'-Sha put her free hand on her hip and leaned on her right leg. "Saves me the trouble."

Terry smirked. "Thought you might feel that way."

"So how will we play this game?"

Terry coughed into a balled up fist, then gestured to his chest where Re'-Sha noticed that his Millennium Puzzle was missing. She instinctively reached for her own item, finding it still dangling from her neck.

Terry pointed to his missing item, which was hovering in the middle of the field, which was still visible beneath their feet. It acted like a sun in the darkness, softly illuminating the field and the personnel that were inside the game with Terry and Re'-Sha. "I guess this game will be a bit of a gamble. I'm going to put my Millennium Puzzle up as the prize for the winner of this game."

Re'-Sha lowered her head and smiled savagely, bearing her teeth.

"But the game itself is going to be different. It's three fold and i'd like to think of it as a game where your very identity is on the line, Re'-Sha."

Re'-Sha raised an eyebrow, but still had her hands on her hips, awaiting Terry's explanation.

"Like I said, the Millennium Puzzle is the prize. This is the first fold. The loser will get a taste of knowing what its like to be like that Yami Yugi. Simply, the loser's memory will be destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Re'-Sha repeated.

"Destroyed. As in no chance of recovery." Terry responded. "No spell or Dark Power or some random BS can bring them back."

Terry stifled a laugh, running a hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck. "They say your past makes up who you are. You lose that, and you lose yourself. I can see you as a mindless ghost in a pendant really nicely, Re'-Sha."

"And likewise, I can see you in a rubber room believing your real name is 'turd'" Re'-Sha chuckled, the thought pleasing her.

"Well, here's the other fold. Since it wouldn't do for us to not be playing in constant fear of bodily harm…"

Terry left his sentence to hang in the air as a low rumbling started to come from above. In the darkness of the game, swirls of black and a light violet started to spread across the upper part. The Millennium Puzzle still glowed brightly, apparently below the level of the clouds.

The rumbling started again and rather large yellow flashes of lightning, concealed by those clouds, started to flash all around the duelists. The air changed. Before it was nothing that was anything special, but now the air around the game felt…colder. Like if the storm had an emotion, it's cold glare was carried and felt by Terry and Re'-Sha in the wind.

"The very earth itself might have a say in the outcome of this duel, Re'-Sha. For every time that you or I lose Life Points…the earth will deal the damage in a way she chooses."

Re'-Sha looked at Terry, her head lowered and her eyes trimmed into dangerous silver half-moons behind her eyelids. "Even if the earth has or had a say in my destiny…"

She raised her arm that held her Duel Disk and made a motion of clenching her fist tightly. "I'll destroy it if it chooses to oppose me!"

"Then let's continue!" Terry said, drawing his card and immediately turning it so Re'-Sha could see it. "I'll play this Spell Card! Upstart Goblin!"

Terry reached and pinched the top card of his deck between his fingers. "In exchange for raising your Life Points by 1000…"

RE'-SHA: 5000

TERRY: 4000

"I can draw 1 card from my deck."

Re'-Sha ran her hand through her hair. "That's doubly problematic for you! Set Card, Open! Appropriate!"

"Tch…" Terry grunted. _Not good._

"I can activate this Trap Card when my opponent draws a card outside of their Draw Phase. When they do so, I can draw two cards from my deck!" Re'-Sha took the two top cards from her deck and slipped them into her hand, all the while smiling at Terry.

_Now that that Trap Card is out, I have to watch how I use my cards that let me draw more. Right now, she has five cards in her hand..._

"I'll play Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) in attack mode!" Terry called out. Six green skinned goblins wielding clubs and pretty cheap armor and helmets appeared on his field. They all mumbled to themselves, eyeing the Mystic Tomato and Stone Statue of the Aztecs on Re'-Sha's field.

"Also, I'll turn my Warrior: Dai Greyfar from defense more to attack mode!"

Dai Greyfar from from its one knee, unleashing its sword that reflected a light, auburn yellow from the light of the Millennium Puzzle. He stood ready to charge, standing so his side faced Re'-Sha's field and its sword behind him.

"Goblin Attack Force, (2300/0) attack Stone Statue of the Aztecs! (300/2000)"

The six miniature goblins dashed toward the statue, their clubs held high and crying an unintelligiable battle cry. They ran and circled the statue, surrounding it. Without a signal, they started bashing on the possessed structure, beating away big chips of it at a time. It only took a matter of seconds for the team to turn the statue into a pile of rocks. Dust hung in the air like a light blanket of smoke around the remains of Re'-Sha's monster as the goblins retreated back to Terry's field.

"Warrior: Dai Greyfar! (1700/1600) Attack Mystic Tomato! (1400/1000)"

The leatherclad warrior started sprinting toward the giant red fruit, sword trailing behind him in one hand. It started running a little to the left of the monster. When it got within range, the warrior swung it sword straight through the middle of the monster leaving two halves floating in the air for a brief moment before they exploded in a mess of polygons. Greyfar, however, after swinging its sword, stopped running and slid a few feet further with it's sword still extended to its front. And stopping just short of inpaling Re'-Sha's chin.

Re'-Sha lowered her head so the point of the sword was pointed between her temples and stared at the black haired man. He didn't relent in his stare, but simply lowered its sword and skipped backwards a few times back to Terry's field. She removed her deck from its holder searching through it. While she did so, she explained the effect of Mystic Tomato; that when it's sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, she can Special Summon one Dark-type monster from her deck in attack mode. She found her monster, added it to her hand of cards, gave her deck one quick shuffle, and replaced it back in the Duel Disk.

"The monster I chose was my Giant Germ! (1000/100)" Re'-Sha exclaimed, pointing with an open palm as tiny bits of purple orbs in the air started to amass into a massive sized germ that hovered and wiggled slightly in the air. It's purple core pulsed in a nauseating fashion.

"Tch…another stall card…" Terry grumbled, annoyed with Re'-Sha's tactics. "When I exit my Battle Phase, Goblin Attack Force is forced to defense mode. I'll end my turn there."

"My turn! Draw!" Re'-Sha greeted her drawn Sangan with a smile.

"I'll play Sangan (1000/600) in defense mode!" Re'-Sha watched her small, beachball-sized monster appear on a card version of itself. It was hunched down on it's knees, all three of it's eyes closed for the moment.

"Then I'll use this Trap Card!" Re'-Sha announced.

"A Trap? Huh…" Terry hummed.

"Trap Card! Jar of Greed!" Re'-Sha said, pulling one card from her deck.

Terry put his hands on his hips, cracking a smirk. "You know, that's just a waste of a card. Could've put something in your deck that's better than that."

Re'-Sha was silent. Terry wasn't looking at her when he was speaking but when he did look at her, she still had the card she had drawn in her hand. Just staring at it. Terry narrowed his eyes.

_Looks like she drew something good..._

"Terry, you're going to be dead very soon." Re'-Sha said, still holding her card.

"Think so? Hardly think you're the one that's going to do it to me." Terry snapped back.

Re'-Sha ignored the insult, declaring this instead…

"You're going to die…in my next turn!"

* * *

"What?!" Jamie exploded from his seat upon hearing Re'-Sha's prediction.

"She can't do it! There's no way! She couldn't have gathered Exodia THIS fast!" Knowledge was short on breath as he spoke hurridly.

Both of them had their questions answered as they saw Re'-Sha on TV as she started to speak again.

"Exodia is a part of me, Terry. I can feel it, understand it, sense it wherever it may be hiding within my deck."

"Just what does that mean?" Knowledge and Jamie heard Terry say, his voice carring over but the camera not panning onto him.

"It's very simple, Terry." She said with her hand just resting over the top of her deck. "Just by doing this, whenever I want to, I can draw a card and it will be a piece of Exodia!"

"THAT CHEATING DITCH-WHORE!!!" Knowledge screamed, his throat screaming itself for saliva. Then his eyes lit up as he came to a realization. "Back then…"

"What, man?" asked Jamie. He was surprised when Knowledge took the Millennium Eye that he was holding and let it fly across the room in a surge of fury. It collided with a lamp across the room, tipping over and extinguishing itself. The room became a little dimmer without the light. After a moment, the Millennium Eye started to glow all on it's own and floated from its place on the floor back toward Knowledge.

Knowledge however, had his hands dug into the arm rests of the chair he was in. His voice cracked and his eyes watered while he stared at the wall, but recalling memories in his mind.

"Janet…Janet never stood a chance…not one…"

Jamie didn't understand what he was talking about, but in a rush, he recalled the duel between Re'-Sha and Janet the day before. The moment she had played Enchanting Fitting Room to be precise. Enchanting Fitting Room was a Spell Card that had a cost of 800 Life Points. But after paying, the player that played it was allowed to draw 4 cards from their deck and Special Summon any Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters from those cards.

"Enchanting Fitting Room…" Jamie said aloud. "Then if what she said was true…" he trailed off.

"Then she could've finished it at any time she wanted to…" Knowledge said, his speech uneven from the lump in his throat. "She truly never stood a chance…I should've…"

"Alright, stop it!"

The voice was in such a commanding tone that Knowledge looked up to see Jamie staring over at him, his eyes burning into his very soul.

"All this time, you wanted to be the one that fought Re'-Sha. Even BEFORE you knew she could do that. How in the world can you feel sorry for yourself for something you didn't know about?!"

Knowledge did say anything.

"You and Janet and me, were all the same. We're duelists! She played with everything that she was capable of in that game. That's what we're supposed to do! Fight until the end, without regrets."

Knowledge let the words hit home. They made perfect sense. But somewhere inside of him, the fire that Re'-Sha had built in his by hurting Jamie in the first place, had become a wildfire over time. But now learning of this had made it become pure hellfire.

Fire…

Fire.

Fire!

FIRE!

"Jamie."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. And tell Terry that, too."

And with those words, Jamie blacked out.

* * *

"Im going to die?" Terry laughed. "Yeah, right!"

"What's so funny?" Re'-Sha asked.

"You, in particular." Terry replied, then held up his hand cards, six in total. "I already knew from the start what your weapon is. Exodia. And I've got keys in my hand now."

"Keys?" she asked.

"Keys. Keys that will help me open the one door. I'm going to do something that's never been done in this game…"

Terry lowered his hand cards and placed his hand on his deck, drawing his next card and announcing his turn.

"I'm going to destroy Exodia!"

* * *

_Like it or not, Knowledge had decided to go do his own thing. But what that thing is is something we all dont know..._

_And with Terry, or rather the side of him that's still calling himself Terry, he's made a statement that you've probably never heard in a duel in your lives. I know i haven't. So how's he gonna do it? Just wait a little while longer and it'll be laid out for you. Look for the next chapter called Embracing Necross._

_Hope you enjoyed the story!_


	32. Embracing Necross

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 34: Embracing Necross

By: MarkMachine

"You'll…destroy…Exodia?" Re'-Sha said very slowly and deliberately. She started shaking her head. "You can't destroy Exodia. You can't destroy something like that. The instant the five cards are in my hand, the game is over. And when those five are in my hand, not only is the game over, but your time existing will be as well."

"Bleh, I've heard enough of your blah about destroying me, Re'-Sha." Terry sassed, looking at the backside of his monster, Dai Greyfar. (1700/1000) Terry called for his monster to attack Re'-Sha's defense mode Giant Germ. (1000/1000) Dai Greyfar made a leap into the air, well above the heads of both duelists, with it's sword raised above its head. As he started to descend back to Earth, with one hand, he brought down a thunderous slash that cut through the Giant Germ with very little effort at all. All that was heard was the sound of the warrior's weapon slicing the air. But the monster didn't die, instead, the two halves that Dai Greyfar had sliced the monster into started to reform into a single unit again.

"Giant Germ's effect activates! When it's destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon another Giant Germ from my deck in attack mode. Also, the opponent…"

Re'-Sha was prevented from saying another word. Stirrings in the air above Terry got her attention. Swirling spirals of dark blue and black started stirring above him, moving quicker with each second. Then out of nowhere, a white lightning bolt came shooting out of the formation, cascading down and crashing against Terry's head.

"WAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Terry screamed, the shock of powerful electric current stiffened all his muscles, even forcing his eyelids to remain open. All he felt was terrible pain from his muscles and intense heat from an element of nature that was ten times hotter than the surface of the sun. Though his eyes were open, he couldn't see. An odd blackness came over his eyes and literally blinded him. When the attack ended, he had found that the bolt somehow raised him off the ground. He landed on his feet then immediately fell to his hands and knees.

He couldn't stop shaking. No matter how hard he tried, initially, he could not force his body to stop shaking. He did not want to show such weakness in front of Re'-Sha. But it was a losing effort.

Terry's vision returned to him and he found his cards scattered in front of him. He held himself up with one arm while he scooped up the cards with the other. With a good bit of effort, despite the shaking, he managed to stand back on his two feet. He realized that he had numbness in his fingertips and it was disconcerting to not be able to feel the cards in his fingers. Ignoring it, he wiped some dust from his cheek not oblivious to the small burns he saw on his exposed flesh.

TERRY: 3500

RE'-SHA: 5000

Re'-Sha, however, was absolutely astonished and excited at the same time. Astonished that such an attack would be brought down on the duelist for just losing a few Life Points. But trembling with excitement for the fact that if such a blow could come from that, what would an attack from a monster like Exodia be like.

"My turn isn't over…" Terry spoke, his voice hoarse and his chest searching for air. He took one card from his hand. "I'll play this reverse monster…then play this Spell Card…Pot of Greed!"

Re'-Sha pointed with an open palm toward her Appropriate Trap Card. "That Spell Card activated the effect of my Trap Card. And I can now draw two cards as well."

Terry and Re'-Sha stared at each other. Both drew their two cards at the same time. Terry didn't look at his, he just watched Re'-Sha. When she looked at her cards and just slipped them into her hand, he felt relieved. Glancing at his own cards he saw another one of his key cards had come to his hand. He now had four of them, but needed another. Which was the only reason he dared to play Pot of Greed at all.

"I'll end my turn there." Terry said.

Re'-Sha smiled a full smile, bearing her white teeth at Terry. "It's time to die."

Terry just lowered his head and scowled at Re'-Sha.

Re'-Sha had already drawn her card, but took a different one from her hand and showed it to Terry. "I'll play this card from my hand! Spell Card! Thunder Crash!"

As soon as Re'-Sha spoke the name of her card, a sound that could only be described as a 'boom' rumbled though the field and Re'-Sha's Sangan and Giant Germ monsters were destroyed, leaving her field naked.

"With the power of this Spell Card, I can destroy all my monsters on my field and deal 300 points of damage to my opponent for each monster destroyed in such a way!"

"What the?!" Terry barely got out before his body just up to his neck was encased in earth. He wondered briefly how he was going to be hurt from this but didn't wait long. Within moments the dirt started to squeeze him. His burn wounds from the last attack protested painfully, but he felt the pressure increase regardless. His fingers and feet felt completely cold; as in he could no longer feel them. All he felt was his forearms and thighs. The pressure started to apply to his groin and it made his stomach churn violently. His ribcage and collarbone felt odd. If he knew it, he would've realized that they were on the verge of breaking. He was beginning to have trouble breathing again. But a pounding headache was rushing his head from all the blood trapped in his face, preventing him from thinking a lot.

When the ground released him, he swayed in the air like a drunken man would. His breathing came in cavernous gulps, trying to replenish the oxygen in his blood. A lot of the patches of burns he had were red and swollen now. Some started to seep with red blood.

TERRY: 2900

RE'-SHA: 5000

Re'-Sha stood there with her arms crossed.

"You know, Terry, when you die, I don't want you to think it was in vain. When I challenge Knowledge to a Game of Darkness, I'll be sure to use the one you've created!"

"Heh."

"Oh, what's so funny?"

"…The fact that you keep thinking of me as the same Terry. 'He' might care about something like that…but I don't. Because I know that you will not be leaving this game with your memories. I'll make sure of it."

"I'd like to see how you're going to do all that within this turn…" Re'-Sha said darkly, her voice low as she removed her deck from its holder. "One of the monster that I sent to the graveyard was my Sangan, and using it's effect, I can search my deck for a monster with an attack power of 1500 or less and add it to my hand."

In one hand, Re'-Sha fanned out her deck and one single card within it started glowing in a gold shade, softly illuminating her cards. It floated up above her fanned out deck and hovered in the air. She quickly shuffled her deck and replaced it in it's holder on her Duel Disk. Then with her free hand, she plucked the card from the air, it's glow fading as she touched it. Her eyes were wide and her silver iris' were shimmering as she looked up from her hand and into her opponent's eyes.

"You die." was all she said.

"You keep thinking that, Re'-Sha…Reverse Card, Open! Double Spell!"

"What good could that possibly do you?" Re'-Sha asked with a hand on her hips.

"You better start getting ready to be damaged instead of talking to me." Terry said with a smirk on his face. He held up one card from his hand and lined it up to go into his graveyard. "Double Spell lets me, at the cost of discarding one Spell Card from my hand, use one of my opponent's Spell Cards as my own."

Re'-Sha's graveyard slot glowed in a soft white tone and a single Spell Card flew out of the Duel Disk, quickly crossing the distance between her Duel Disk and Terry's outstretched hand. He caught the card between his fingers, looked at it for a moment and turned it so Re'-Sha could see.

"I stole you Thunder Crash Spell Card. And I think you know the effect of it very well. For each monster on my field that this Spell Card destroys, you take 300 points of damage!"

Goblin Attack Force and Warrior: Dai Greyfar both disappeared from the field and the card version of themselves appeared on the field in their stead. Those two cards, plus the reverse monster that Terry had, lined up behind the stolen Spell Card of Re'-Sha's. Her own Spell Card started to rumble slightly and started to turn into a white rectangle. But then all four of the cards vanished, but the rumbling only continued to grow worse. She felt it was coming behind her and as she turned, she was greeted with the sight of a violent torrent of water angling down from the sky toward her. She was so shocked and so confused initially that she made no attempt to move. The water crashed down on her with amazing force, knocking her on her back instantly. She wailed into the darkess that surrounded the two of them. The blow was crushing, as she couldn't force her lungs to take in air since they were being crushed. Along with that, her chest was burning from taking the attack. A weak attempt at bringing her arms up to at least cover her chest was repelled by the pressurized blast of water.

TERRY: 2900

RE'-SHA: 4100

When the shot ended, much too soon for Terry's taste, Re'-Sha immediatlely rolled to one side sitting up on one of her elbows and inhaling gulps of air. She was shivering and her hair was wet and laying flat against her head. The way she was laying and the long slit in her ankle length dress afforded Terry a look at a lot of her leg but he wasn't interested in that. Re'-Sha, in a quick moment, turned over so she was on her hands and knees and started throwing up water that has made its way into her own lungs.

Terry couldn't help but laugh at the woman as she gathered her cards back into her hand. Somehow, they had stayed dry through that attack. She ran a hand over her hair, laying it flat and exposing her face to Terry again. She had an odd expression on her face. He couldn't tell, he wanted to say it was anger but it was so odd that he just narrowed his eyes as he stared at her.

"Feh, I guess if that will make you feel good about yourself…" Re'-Sha said, her voice a little hoarse from her chest being crushed and from having water still in her lungs. "But that doesn't change a thing. I still win!"

"Damn it, just shut up!" Terry yelled out. "You haven't paid attention, Re'-Sha. What were the monsters that I sent to the graveyard from your Thunder Crash card?"

"Who cares?"

"You! The reverse monster?" Terry held a card, the face turned toward Re'-Sha, up high in the air. "That monster was my own Sangan!. And using it's effect, I can move one card with an attack of 1500 or less to my hand."

"It doesn't make a damned difference what you do now. A pathetic duelist right to the end! Now, Exodia! My carrier of vengeance and justice! Come and wipe this fool from the Earth!!!" Re'-Sha took the five cards from her hand and individually laid them down onto her Duel Disk. As she placed one down, that section of her Duel Disk started to glow white. When all five cards had been placed on her field, the Duel Disk started vibrating on her arm. Suddenly, the light that had been surrounding her Duel Disk shot into the air and expanded into a circle high above their heads. The light slowly dimmed away but in the place of the light was a pentagram that was primarily white but had streaks of tan running through the lines. Then a tan foot with a large, heavy, rust colored chain started to descend from the pentagram. Then another foot. The feet kept coming as more of the monster descended. It's arms, with broken chains attached to them as well, came through next. And then, finally, the head of the beast came into view as well. Exodia, in all its infinite power and complete fear, touched down onto the ground, instantly making a white mist that hung right to the duelists knees appear.

"Ha ha! Where is your confidence now, Terry? You say you'll destroy Exodia? You're full of it! Here it sits and-"

"WHEN I say I'll do something, I'll do it!" Terry barked, interrupting Re'-Sha. With a quick move, he took the cards he had in his hand and threw them diagonally toward the sky. "Watch your monster die in front of you, Re'-Sha. I summon Exodia!"

As soon as he spoke the name of the monster, a crack of lightning broke through the sky and struck the five cards he had thrown to the sky, casting a soft glow upon them. They could be seen even in the darkness that surrounded the two of them; five rectangular brown patches in the sky. But then another bolt connected with the cards and they slowly started to vanish.

But as they vanished, the clouds behind Terry started to move and shift in odd ways. A rhythmic crashing of thunder that started after the cards disappeared turned out to be the crashing of a giant's footsteps. Through the curtain of darkness, a tan hand with a rusted and broken chain emerged. Then two legs. Then the other arm. And with a growl that shook everyone to their spine, the head came forward.

"Exodia! It's-it's not even –" Re'-Sha shook her head, water whipping from her hair onto her arms and forehead. "It's not real! Not real! Exodia, destroy him!"

Re'-Sha's giant reared back with one arm, it's hand tightened into a SUV sized fist…

Terry's monster responded by also preparing to battle against its twin…

Re'-Sha's monster brought it's fist down on the smug duelist whilst his own monster's fist screamed past his own body and connected with Re'-Sha's monster's fist, much like an uppercut…

And then the world became white…

________________________________________________________________________

Voices. There were voices speaking.

"Pharaoh, I am doubtful of the continued-"

"You doubt our Master?!"

"No, I do not doubt our Pharaoh. I do have reservations about using this monster."

"What doubts?"

"This monster…it is the form of the daughter of the exiled one. This Re'-Sha Shythe's soul was damned by the God of Death itself. Her very soul was denied passage to the afterlife."

"That exile was the reason the Gods wrought their destruction upon the nation. I feel no pity, no dishonor from using his daughter's very body to fix this catastrophe."

"No, we should seek another way. Her soul is unworthy of the afterlife, why should we use her as a tool of the pharaoh? Shattering her monstrous body cost us dearly, I feel we should be done with her and find another way to fix our society."

"You would throw away such a power? Nary an enemy will come within miles of our Master's lands!"

"Have you forgotten? This girl's soul has haunted our pharaoh and our citizens. They believe her a specter that will consume them! Her father betrayed the trust of the gods and punishment was given not to him but to the very daughter he sought to save. He fled when the people sought the one responsible. Our very own citizens killed that girl to sate their bloodlust. We could not stop them. It is no coincidence she haunted us. Even after we banished her to the Realm of Monsters, she broke free and emerged as an unstoppable, infallible beast! Wanting our heads! By the gods, we meet here today because _we _have wrought this upon ourselves!"

"You would do well not raise your voice in the presence of our Master!!"

A pause.

"My apologies. My sincerest apologies. I sought to point out that this woman broke through worlds to destroy us. Every thought that she had was of vengeance. Power from such a source cannot be trusted to work for you, my Pharaoh. Even now, it takes many people to even control such a beast and five items imbued with powerful magic as well. The ring we've sealed what remains of her into cannot even be touched lest someone be taken over by her."

"You've made great points. But this power cannot be ignored. It cannot be tossed to this side. Such would be foolish and ignorant. No type of power is not without its share of dangers. If we were without this power, we would all be dead. Our enemies would be walking atop our corpses."

"I do not agree. We should have been stronger as a people…had we as a people been able to stop her father, the one responsible for the gods removing our God Sight, we would not be here. Had we as a people not acted out in bloodlust, her soul may not have sought to haunt us. Had we as a people not sealed her to the Realm of Monsters, we would not have known the threat of Exodia. We share in this shame. If we were stronger, we would still be living a paradise."

"Paradise cannot last. It never does."

"And I offer the same advice to you about Exodia."

"Hmm…perhaps."

"It's not 'perhaps'. Nothing good will come of using this –"

A new voice cuts in. Deeper, more aged than the previous two. It has an air of authority to it that isn't unnoticed. "That will be enough."

A pause.

"For the moment, we are too weak to survive. The country is crippled and people will hastily blame others for problems. We need a symbol for the people to unite around and gain new hope for the future. Exodia, no matter its origins, is that symbol."

________________________________________________________________________

"What tha?!"

'Terry' was laying face-up on his back spacing out with the lingering words of that imageless vision that had crossed through his mind. He grasped his head with his hands, trying to decipher the words. "Did I just see...no, did I just hear a conversation from what was thousands of years ago?! That's not possible! But it felt like I was there. Like I was so close, I could've seen their faces!"

_The voices don't sound familiar at all_, Terry said to himself. He was now sitting up on his behind, but still holding his head. _But where did that come from anyway?_

Re'-Sha was already standing but she too was holding her head as her mind was invaded with the conversation that Terry had just heard as well. "Tch…damnit...i know those voices…" Re'-Sha mumbled to herself, "two of the five priests that were that pharoah's lapdogs. The one who protested…Sondo. And the radical that adored the power of Exodia…Kinfe."

Terry heard her mumbling. "Kinfe and Sondo, was it. They don't sound like normal names..."

Re'-Sha stared blankly at her opponent. "You heard it too."

Terry didn't respond.

"It doesn't matter." Re'-Sha looked upwards, now feeling empty. In an instant, Terry had accomplished something that no one had done. The power, even from an empty hologram, of Exodia was like a warm blanket to her. It kept her safe and comfortable. Now she was without it, and felt alone and vulnerable. This new Terry rattled her.

He didn't think, didn't' act, didn't speak, didn't even play like the one she dueled before. This was a whole new experience to her. And even still, Terry was still in there. A new style but with a new face, in a sense. And even like him, this one frustrated her to no ends.

"A draw brings me no satisfaction. Somebody must win and somebody must lose. Somebody lives and somebody will be shattered. That's the way it goes in a Game of Darkness. Let's continue this duel, nameless one."

"How do you want to continue?"

"Consider it a reset. We'll discard all our current cards to the graveyard, then draw five new ones. Then continue as normal; as if this were the start of another duel. Cards on the field will remain however."

Terry narrowed his eyes at that last statement. Currently, she was the only one with any cards left in her hand, which was just one. She would discard it according to her rules, but she still had her Appropriate Trap Card on the field. It would stay if he agreed to her terms. Appropriate would let her draw 2 cards anytime he drew cards outside of the Draw Phase. But with her Exodia gone, the only other viable threat he know of that she had in her deck was her Exodia Necross.

He smirked, "Alright, I agree."

Re'-Sha acknowledged him and then looked down at her remaining card, Premature Burial. A valuable tool, but she casually placed it in her Duel Disk's graveyard slot. She drew five cards, and as this was practically a new duel, she drew a sixth card. Glancing over her cards, she picked up one.

"I'll play Mine Golem (1000/1900) in defense mode."

Rumbling started to rattle the feet of the two duelists. The earth cracked and parted as a immense robot clad in yellow armor, or perhaps yellow from the earth it was in, pulled itself up from the soil. It easily dwarfed Re'-Sha in size and all but concealed her from view as it took a kneeling stance in front of her.

"I'll then set two reverse cards and end my turn there."

Terry then silently drew his card and looked over his own hand. He couldn't let Re'-Sha call on Exodia Necross. All she needed was the Spell Card needed to summon Necross and the card itself. The hard part of getting Exodia in the graveyard as part of Contract with Exodia's requirement was done. But once it was summoned, it would be trouble. In just a few turns, it could grow into a threat his deck wouldn't be able to handle easily. But the best that he could currently do…

"I'll summon Chain Thrasher! (1000/600)"

Terry slapped the card down onto his Duel Disks and watched a short haired blonde warrior materialize out of the white sparks that shot from the card. It narrowed it's eyes on the yellow robot in front of it and started swinging it's chain, equipped with a small dagger at one end, in a small arc to its side.

"I'll set one reverse card to end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" Re'-Sha pulled the top card from her deck, looked at it and immediately played it, seeing it as a oppourtunity she couldn't pass up. Even if it cost her a valuable card…

"I'll play this Spell Card! Dragged Down to the Grave!"

Terry eyed the card skeptically.

"Dragged Down into the Grave forces both duelists to show each other their hands. Then we can both select one card from our opponent's hands and it will be discarded to the Graveyard. Afterwards, we can draw one card."

"Tch…another drawing effect to use Appropriate?" Terry grunted, but obligled and fanned his cards so that Re'-Sha could see his hand. The cards he had in his hand consisited of Chain Thrasher (1000/600), Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500), Polymerization, Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400) and Lightforce Sword. Re'-Sha's hand consisted of Swords of Revealing Light, Remove Brainwashing and Triangle Power.

But now Terry was very suspicious. She played a card like Dragged Down into the Grave and kept Swords of Revealing Light in her hand for me to choose to discard? He glanced down at the two reverse cards on her field. _I don't like this. It's like she left that card there intentionally. And in this case it's the only card I should be making her discard, but why does she want me to do it...Triangle Power's effect of increasing a Level 1 monsters' attack power isn't playable now, and neither is Remove Brainwashing. No monster that I have belongs to her. What is she trying to keep me from..._

Re'-Sha looked into Terry's hand for a shock of her own. She noticed that Terry had the pieces necessary to summon the Fusion Monster he had used in the last duel with Vega, Epsilon. Passing his choice to not summon the powerhouse as a sign of caution in the beginning of the duel, her mind was made up.

"I want you to discard your Gilford the Lightning. (2800/1400)"

"And I want you to discard Swords of Revealing Light."

Both did as the other demanded, placing their cards into their graveyards. Terry drew one card from his deck, while Re'-Sha drew three, according to her Appropriate card's effect. Terry knew that he had to get rid of that card very soon as it would definitely cause him problems.

But while he was thinking this to himself, he nearly missed a small bit of what looked like dark blue clouds swirling about her ankles. It was nearly camouflaged by the darkness around them. A glance toward her face and he could see that she was saying something but he couldn't hear it. But suddenly the small cloud just exploded in size, becoming a swirling twister of dark blue, violet and crimson that encompassed Re'-Sha's entire body. The base was narrow but it panned out into a sort of funnel as it got higher into the air.

"I'm going to crush you, Terry! And throw you to the winds!" Re'-Sha's voice echoed around the area, as if it was everywhere.

Terry countered, "You're still mistaking me for-"

"Be silent! Pathetic boy...Just looking at you makes me mad. You're like a pillar of my own ineptness. A symbol of what I can't do. All my weaknesses given a form that can speak. Everything that I can't do…that still finds ways to beat me…make me worse, drag me down further…prevent me from achieving my goals."

Her voice had gradually changed from that of a woman to a very loud, almost reptilian-like one. He could hear her voice quivering, but definitely not in fear or anxiety. More from rage hissing and dripping from her lips. "Killing you isn't enough. Killing you isn't enough. It's not nearly enough. I want to hear you beg, see you cry, look to me as your only avenue of mercy…and there is no better monster to do such a thing with than one that is born when Exodia lies in the graveyard."

Terry didn't miss the hint at all, "You mean-?!"

From the depths of the still swirling cloud came, "Exodia is tied to me, in mind, heart and soul. I can call on the pieces of Exodia from my deck at whim as well as the other forms it takes! Reverse Card, Open! Contract with Exodia! Rise from the graveyard, Exodia Necross!"

The base of the twister started to rise into the air, revealing Re'-Sha to Terry. But she was different, her body was covered in a fine sheet of sweat and her hair looked unkempt. She was breathing heavily and stood with her feet wide apart as if she could barely stand. But those were minor. What had really changed were her eyes. No longer were they just a uncanny silver, they had become completely bloodshot. Deeply dipped in ruby red, with cat-like eyes instead of human ones. A black cornea with a thin silver iris that was now surrounded by red. She peeked up at Terry from below her disheveled hair with these eyes and made him stagger two steps backwards.

The clouds that Terry was no longer paying attention to started to form into the shape of Exodia Necross and as gravity claimed it, or maybe just because it wanted to, the monster came crashing down to the ground, making Terry's green iris' seem smaller as his eyes grew wider.

"Terry, I swear on everything, I'm going to hold your heart in my hands while I watch you die!" And with this, the Mine Golem that, despite its grand size, had gone by forgotten, turned and started to bring down a raised, armored boot down onto Terry's Chain Thrasher.

"R-Reverse Card, Open! Hallowed Life Barrier!" Terry got out, hurriedly sliding a card from his hand into his graveyard.

A sound of bells seemed to come from nowhere as a white veil of light covered Terry's body like a second skin, instead of a bubble. The sound of well-maintained gears was heard as the foot that was raised in the air came down. It collided with Terry's monster's head and it immediately shattered. The white energy that had formed around Terry wavered as the Mine Golem again raised its foot and returned to its side of the field. His monster was lost to the battle, but she couldn't damage his Life Points in this turn.

"Exodia!"

That was all that she said. Necross raised its fist into the air as it let out a low growl and a sneer at Terry while doing so. Thin strands of light started to criss-cross their way from the monster's shoulder to inside its enclosed fist. As it continued, it seemed like the monster's fist was being slowly opened not from the monster but from the energy that was collecting there. As more and more of it became viewable, Terry could see that it was just a pure white ball with what seemed like a gray center inside of it. The ball gave off a soft light that illuminated the top of Exodia Necross' head, casting shadows over it's eyes and chest.

The monster's growl turned into a full on roar as it pitched the ball like a baseball at Terry's position. Terry, taken in from the look of the attack, wondered somewhere in the back of his mind. _I can't be damaged in this turn, so why is she still attacking me?_

The impact of the sphere hitting the barrier around Terry's body caused it to splinter into white, for lack of a better term, needles with gray tips. They exploded from the sphere flying out in all directions but the majority collided into the Hallowed Life Barrier with no ill effects. All of the moving bits of white and grey made Terry's eyes spin.

It was because of this that Terry never saw the open hand of Exodia Necross reach through the needles and grab him. Actually, physically grab him and hoist him into the air with just the tips of his feet and his head shown. The rest of his body was covered in the fist that Necross had him in. The pressure of the monster's fist all over his body made him shiver and struggle vainly to break free. But he couldn't budge. The shock of this actually brought him to some rational thought as he wondered, panicked, how is a hologram grabbing me?

Though he couldn't see her, Re'-Sha's voice came up to his ears, "I might not be able to hurt your Life in this turn…but I'm going to make something clear for you, pathetic boy. These games are going to stop now. If it means the death of this girl, I don't care. But you will…"

The fist tightened. Terry felt the blood just stop flowing in his feet and his head.

"…not…"

The fist loosened and dizziness briefly passed over him.

"…beat me!"

The fist loosened too much and the quick attempt to grab one of Necross' fingers failed. The monster was only holding him up about 15 feet off the ground but it seemed like a very long fall and an even harder landing for him. He came down feet first and tried to just bend at the knees to absorb some of the shock of the fall. That helped none as he was falling too fast and his knees and feet stung with pain from the impact. The way that he had landed, he wanted to stand right back up but instead he fell backwards onto his back, cursing himself as a welcome dull numbness started creeping up his legs. Grateful that he didn't seem to break them, he got onto his hands and knees, looking at his opponent.

An unseen wind or force was making her clothes and hair move about. But her eyes had remained the same. He could not stare into those eyes because even now, they could rattle him. But that caused Terry to remember something. Re'-Sha's eyes had turned from normal to red. Necross had actually picked him up. When it came to the field, Re'-Sha looked pretty worn out from something. And all the clues and hints rolled together but it wasn't until he remembered Knowledge that it all clicked and the realization hit.

"Necross…Soul Burning…it's real!" Terry got out in hurried gasps.

"It's very real." warned Re'-Sha. "And it wants your life."


	33. The Bittersweet Victory

Yu-Gi-Oh! Future History

Chapter 35: The Bittersweet Victory

By: MarkMachine

Terry looked at the monster that stood in front of Re'-Sha with newly found dread. Card effects and the like seemed to keep his Life Points stable but that said nothing for his actual body. His Life Points never were damaged from Necross' attack, only his body and his psyche. As he made an attempt to stand, he instantly fell back again in a very awkward way. He could see the telltale bend in his left leg that he'd failed to notice before. It was broken. The numbness and tingling settled into his extremities, preparing him for the agony that was sure to follow very soon. _For the love of..._Terry left unfinished in his own head.

"My turn. Draw." Terry ripped the card from his deck whilst sitting down on his haunches with his legs splayed out akimbo in front of him. He didn't have all that long to wait for the pain to start creeping into his leg, so he just bit down hard on his teeth.

"I'll play Ancient Rules!" Terry exclaimed but it almost sounded like a groan. "I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher monster from my hand. And I'll pick Scorpio Dragon! (2950/2500)"

As Terry slapped the monster onto his Duel Disk, the darkness around and behind him began to part slightly. It wasn't enough to allow light to stream through but if you looked hard enough, you could see glimmers of light trying to get through. Those glimmers were stars and though they couldn't be seen nearly as brilliantly as normal, they were there and they also started to move and collect into a small bunch. They spun around each other, reminding you of the way that moons orbit a planet. It was as they were moving that their light started to become brighter and as they moved, they left tails like comets circling. They started to take the shape of a serpentine monster with a mane of hair coming from its head. Scorpio Dragon twisted and turned and curled its way from the sky to hover over Terry's field. It had lowered itself low enough that it was partially blocking his view of Re'-Sha and Exodia Necross.

_Is this thing trying to protect me?_ He thought to himself with his green eyes staring up at the dragon. Even if it was, Re'-Sha had an opening he was going to make her pay dearly for. "Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) attack Mine Golem! (1000/1900)"

Now came a move that even Terry had to smirk at. Scorpio Dragon had lowered itself pretty close to the ground so with a quick swipe of its tail, it swept Mine Golem from its position on Re'-Sha's field and up into the air until it disappeared from sight. Terry himself thought that was the end of that, but he saw that the monster was gathering energy within its teeth above him. But while the head was unmoving, he could see the eyes of the dragon. They were tracking the Mine Golem through the darkness that Terry couldn't even see through, silently watching. It whipped its head upward and then snapped open its mouth to let out a vicious beam that pierced through the darkness to disappear itself. A few moments passed and the dragon lowered its head to snarl at Re'-Sha and Necross. Suddenly a small explosion appeared in the air that cast a dim light over the features of the dragon as it bared its teeth to its opponents.

TERRY: 2900

RE'-SHA: 2150

It was as if bearing those teeth were a catalyst to what happened next. The air around them, which had been still with not a trace of a breeze, started to swirl mightily and although 'Terry' was on the opposite side of the field, he could feel the speed with which it was moving. It was definitely worse for Re'-Sha as it was strong enough to start inching her backwards but then a surge lifted her up off her feet and twirl her around in the air like a spinning top. It barely lasted a few seconds but the landing was hard. At first it seemed like she'd land awkwardly but on her feet, but the momentum was enough to make her feet give from under her and she landed squarely on her shoulder with a audible 'smack'. But she didn't stay on the ground long, she got up but was favoring that right shoulder. Her Duel Disk was equipped onto her left arm and she rubbed at it gingerly with it as she staggered back toward her field.

"Round and round she went." Terry chuckled at Re'-Sha's expense from the ground.

Re'-Sha's reaction was to glare at Terry with those red eyes but Terry didn't look into them. "When Mine Golem is destroyed by battle," Re'-Sha said, and as she continued, her voice began to shift toward a laugh. "Heh, I can, heh, inflict 500 damage to my opponent!"

Terry became wide-eyed not from hearing that, but because he felt the ground below him suddenly become a lot less stable. It was like he was sitting on quicksand and he was absolutely right as he felt his bottom and legs just drop into the murky mixture of water and earth. It wasn't long before he was hip deep into the ground but he managed to crawl his way out of it before it swallowed him whole.

TERRY: 2400

RE'-SHA: 2150

"My turn!" Re'-Sha took the card off the top of her deck, gave it a confirming glance and held it to her side. "In my Standby Phase, Exodia Necross grows stronger, boy. For each Standby Phase that passes, it increases its attack power by 500 which brings it to 2300. But this is a card I've been waiting to play on you. I'll play the Continuous Spell Card Trapped in the Machine!"

Terry had been lying off to his side looking at Re'-Sha and hadn't moved since climbing out of that quagmire. But he saw Re'-Sha's card appear on the field where the picture of it only depicted the red, glowing eyes of a demonic monster. Crawling so that he managed to now stand and rest his weight onto his only good leg, he glared at her field.

"To play Trapped in the Machine, I must destroy one card on my field." And with that, a reverse card on Re'-Sha's field lifted itself revealing Embodiment of Apophis before exploding into white pixels and scattering. "And I must continue to destroy 1 card on my field during each of my Standby Phases. During your Standby Phase, boy, this card will Special Summon a Vindictive Token (2000/2000) in attack mode on your field."

Terry scowled, "Such a nice gift."

Re'-Sha smiled and gestured to the image of the card on her field. "It is no gift, boy. I'll use it to cull your field." She stepped over and Terry could see her eyes glow just a little brighter, illuminating the undead red iris' more. "For each Vindictive Token (2000/2000) on your field in your End Phase, I can destroy either one face up monster card or one face down Trap or Spell Card on your field."

Terry's eyes narrowed, "Sneaky son of a…"

"Your life is nearly ended, boy. I'll play Change of Heart!"

In an instant, the Scorpio Dragon that was ever present but silent on Terry's field vanished and appeared on her field, flying about wildly and clearly not having the change of heart the Spell Card indicated. But Terry saw it left him with no protection at all on his field.

"Exodia Necross! (2300/0) Attack him directly!"

Terry saw Necross' hand once again open up and in the center of its palm, thin slivers of white light were drawn in and collected quickly into a primarily white ball that had a grey center. But instead of pitching the sphere at him like before, this time the sphere exploded and shot out a fairly narrow stream of energy. Terry hadn't time to react and almost like a sniper's bullet, that attack impacted against his chest right where his heart was hidden by bones and muscle. It didn't pierce his skin, it sent painful waves through his body. He felt positively electrified and couldn't even manage to find his voice. His mouth just hung open and let choking gasps escape as his body was being pushed back from his position.

Re'-Sha cackled with inane laughter, watching Terry's body get tossed around and as the attack ended, he fell forward onto his knees and then onto his hands.

TERRY: 100

RE'-SHA: 2150

"Stand up!" Re'-Sha demanded after a moment, watching small wisps of some kind of smoke seep from his clothing. "Stand and fight me, boy! I want to look at your pathetic face when I end this."

Re'-Sha watched Terry squirm around a bit and watched him get back up onto his feet once again. Her eyes were drawn to the glowing of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. But Re'-Sha was observant as well. She noticed with curiousity that his eyes had become brown from the green they were before. Also the leg that he had been favoring for a moment didn't seem to bother him.

"This isn't over…" he said.

Re'-Sha studied him for a moment and then said. "Well, well. The REAL Terry has revealed himself? What happened to your other personality, he cowered away?"

The real Terry righted himself fully and tried his hardest to put on a brave face. But he was literally shaking. He'd never seen Re'-Sha's eyes so red and driven for his own life. He felt his body had been steamrolled then tazered. Looking at the his Duel Disk to show 100 Life Points and seeing Scorpio Dragon on Re'-Sha's field certainly didn't help. "He didn't cower, I tried to save him."

"There'll be no saving today, boy." Re'-Sha said. "Be it you or that other self of yours."

"You're right, Re'-Sha." Terry tried to declare in a steady voice, but not succeeding. "There will be no saving today. You'd like nothing more than to see the world burn around you."

"Absolutely." She agreed.

Terry bowed his head, no longer trying to stop the emotion from cracking his voice. He spoke clearly, but with a mixture of sadness and grief. "You've become drawn to violence like a moth is driven to a flame. If I didn't try to stop you, everyone I know and everyone I care for would be lined up to march into that fire for your entertainment. You've hurt so many just to get at _me_. Vega and Knowledge, Jamie, even Janet. All so I could be the first one to meet their end at your hand. I even put something…no, he's no thing, he's brave, nameless someone. He had nothing to do with this fight, this is my fight, despite what Shadi advised. If I hadn't intervened, he might've died. There won't be any saving today, because I can't help you, Re'-Sha. I wish that I could, I never wanted to have to hurt anyone but…you're beyond saving…"

He finished the statement barely in an audible tone. Re'-Sha smiled viciously at him, like a viper to a cornered rabbit. "It's like I said, boy. You're pathetic."

Terry looked up at her, as if she were stories taller and better than he could hope to become. And he gradually changed that look of a whipped puppy to the look of a boy who'd found some resolve in his heart. "If I beat you, and I'm pathetic Re'-Sha, what's that make you? My turn, so I'll draw."

Terry glanced but saw Re'-Sha wasn't going to offer a retort. He also saw Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) drift from Re'-Sha's field over to his. So all he had to his field was his Scorpio Dragon and a Vindictive Token. (2000/2000) Re'-Sha had Exodia Necross (2300/0) a reverse card and her Trapped in the Machine Continuous Spell Card. He took a closer look at the card.

Trapped in the Machine

Continuous Spell Card

Destroy 1 card on your field during each of your Standby Phases. During your opponents Standby Phase, Special Summon 1 Vindictive Token (2000/2000) in attack position to your opponent's field. For each Vindictive Token on your opponent's field during their End Phase, destroy either 1 face-up monster or 1 face-down Spell or Trap Card. All monsters on your field must remain in attack position.

_So Necross is locked into attack position, and this Continuous Spell Card deposits a token on my field for her to attack with a stronger Necross. But she can't shift to defense position. Exodia Necross (2300/0) is weaker than Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) but only for now. I need to remove Necross..._Terry was thinking to himself, trying to form a plan. He absent-mindedly touched the side of his leg, not really believing that with the Millennium Puzzle, he simply wished to be able to stand and it was so. Within his body, he could definitely feel that his leg was still snapped, but it was like there was something else around his leg helping him stand upright.

"I'll set one reverse card, then switch this Vindictive Token (2000/2000) to defense mode." Terry said, arranging his cards properly on his Duel Disk. Touching his Scorpio Dragon, he realized something else he could do, but it couldn't be done just yet. "And I'll have Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) attack Necross! (2300/0)"

Re'-Sha just crossed her arms and didn't break her glare even as her face was brightened from the dragon's attack cascading through the darkness to indeed impact against Necross and damage her Life Points, but not fazing either her or her monster.

TERRY: 100

RE'-SHA: 1500

"This battle is going to be decided by these two monsters," Re'-Sha declared raising her left arm and pointed at the Vindictive Token, which was a humanoid that had been encased in fire but was kneeling on Terry's field. It slowly stood up and as if Re'-Sha had given it a unspoken command, the humanoid turned into a raging flame that shot up into the air a small ways and then crashed down onto the reverse card Terry had set. Through the flames, she could see it briefly before it became black and disintegrated into ashes.

"Hard-Sellin' Zombie…" Re'-Sha muttered, distinctly unhappy.

"It _was_ a Trap Card that whenever a monster on my field would deal damage to my opponent, I could select one card in their graveyard and move it to the bottom of their deck. I added it _just_ for Necross." Terry spoke.

"And you failed with it…" Re'-Sha murmured, slightly happy about destroying such a key card to destroying her Necross, but while Terry knew her well, she knew him just as well. _There's no chance he only put one card in his deck to destroy Necross...there's more..._

"My turn. Draw!" she made a quick look at her drawn card then looked toward Exodia Necross. "My Necross made it to another Standby Phase so its attack power goes up to 2800. In just one more turn, it'll be more than powerful enough to destroy that damned Scorpio Dragon (2950/2500) and end your life…boy."

Terry just gripped his cards tighter as he watched the reverse card on Re'-Sha's field explode. "Also, in my Standby Phase, my Trapped in the Machine Spell Card will destroy another of my reverse cards to satisfy its cost. You'll receive another Vindictive Token on your field in your Standby Phase."

Re'-Sha licked her lips in a salivating way, hungry for something. She let her eyes lock onto the Millennium Puzzle around Terry's neck and could feel the hair on her neck stand on end, even despite her own reservations against Terry not being out of options. "I can wait one more turn to kill you, boy. End turn."

Terry slowly pulled the next card from his deck and saw another Vindictive Token appear to his field, but he gave it only a brief thought. He picked up three cards from his hand. "I'll set three reverse cards and turn your other Vindictive Token (2000/2000) to defense mode. Scorpio Dragon, (2950/2500) attack Necross! (2800/0)"

TERRY: 100

RE'-SHA: 1350

And then, more for Re'-Sha than himself, he announced, "End Phase. Choose, Re'-Sha."

Re'-Sha sucked on her teeth. _He's trying to indimidate me? Of all people, me?! pathetic whelp!_

Re'-Sha once again raised her left arm and the two Vindictive Tokens, which were on either side of Scorpio Dragon, flew into the air. It didn't take long for them to crash down onto two cards and they both raised their faces.

"Lightforce Sword…a Trap Card that would remove a card from my hand from play for three turns." Re'-Sha spoke aloud but thinking to herself, _a bluff._

The other card became visible and Re'-Sha looked at it as well. "Mirage Tube…a Quick-Play Spell Card that would've inflicted 1000 damage to me when I targeted a monster on your field for an attack."

That left one card on Terry's field. "Draw!" Re'-Sha shouted, ripping the card from the top of her deck and then pointing with her drawn card toward Terry's dragon. "Necross (3300/0) kill the dragon (2950/2500) and carve that boy's heart out of his chest!"

"No more Re'-Sha." Terry declared, standing firm. "Even if it goes against what I believe…I can't let you go on like this. Reverse Card, Open! Dimensional Prison!"

Terry's Trap Card flipped up and just as Necross' fist was shooting forward toward Scorpio Dragon, when it looked as if it would connect against the belly of the dragon, a distortion much like one sees on a disturbed pool of water appeared and sucked in the fist of the monster.

"What the!?" Re'-Sha ballistically screamed.

Terry touched the edge of his Scorpio Dragon as he spoke, "Dimensional Prision is a Trap Card that when my opponent declares an attack, I can remove the attacking monster from play! This game is over!"

The distortion grew like it had a sentience and quickly overtook the arm of the undead Exodia corpse. It seemed like it tried to yank away from it, but it couldn't go anywhere. The distortion ate up its arm then its legs and worked on its other arm. For a moment, all that could be seen was just its chest and head, separated from its limbs. It roared in an animalistic voice, the first noise it ever made, while the distortion consumed its chest and its head. The roar became quieter and quieter as the distortion faded away into normalcy.

But Re'-Sha was beyond a fit of rage. At first, just her irises were blood red from using Soul Burning. But now, both her iris and cornea and all other parts became a deep crimson. Two devilish eyes were accompanied by a siren's scream as she ripped her Duel Disk away and charged toward Terry. She didn't run, but she literally glided across the ground, hands outstretched in front of her as she aimed to drive them into Terry's chest.

But of all things to stop her, the tail of Terry's Scorpio Dragon did. With a unnatural speed, it wrapped its tail up around her midsection and hoisted her into the air only about a foot off the ground. Re'-Sha didn't have rational throught, all she was driven by was years and years of rage and frustration that had found another outlet. If she were rational, she might've stopped to wonder why the dragon had been able to pick her up in the first place.

And even as her eyes met Terry's, it still didn't register. She growled and spat and cussed into the equal red eyes of a Soul Burning Terry. Scorpio Dragon was no hologram any longer, it was real.

Terry could feel the strain. From the very second he'd touched his card, he'd been preparing himself for the strain he'd feel. It was almost useless, he could feel his muscles tighten and involuntary twitches in his fingers and toes and eyelids. Without moving, he could hear and feel the sounds of his knuckles cracking. But while it was taking a toll on his body, he managed to put mind over matter, looking at Re'-Sha.

"I…" he choked out, trying to find the words to tell Scorpio Dragon to attack.

"I…"

"I'm going to…"

And within his mind, he felt the resolve he'd been desperately holding escape him. That resolve that told his heart that this was the way. And he'd lost it. But even as he dropped his head and a single tear dropped from his face, he raised it again and while the eyes retained that deep blood red color, they also had a hint of green in them as well. And a smirk that befit the other side to Terry's personality than the main one.

"How nice, my enemy all tied up with nowhere to go…" he spoke to a irrational Re'-Sha that was clawing her hands at the thick skin of the dragon to no effect. She couldn't or just didn't pay attention to the energy it was gathering in its mouth. Just before it released it and the world became white through the darkness around them, a cocky voice could be heard saying, "Penalty Game! Mind Crush!"

The darkness faded, the lights of the hotel's private room filled 'Terry's' eyes and the sound of an annoying announcer filled his ears as he looked toward a camera that'd been thrust into his face. Battle City champion, best the city has to offer, so on and so forth. Terry wasn't really listening. But he did accept the crystal Duel Disk that had been put into his hands and was kindly shooed away by the guy, Sinclair, to gab to the camera some more.

_All these people saw all that and they go on like they just watched their favorite sitcom? What is going on- _and he cut his own thoughts short. Off to the side, where he'd left her, Terry could see the figure of Re'-Sha with her back to him. And just as his breath caught in his windpipe, she turned and right away, he could tell something was off. The eyes were black, not silver. The face was not menacing but caring. Just the overall feel of her was a complete flip-flop to what he'd been fighting against only moments before.

And he was completely surprised to see her run up to him and wrap him up in a hug. He could feel his shoulder becoming damp from tears that ran down her face and got absorbed into his shirt. He held his hands in the air, unsure of what to do with this girl until she released him, stepped back and looked at him.

"Thank you…so much…" she said.

"…What's your name?" 'Terry' asked, unfamiliar with this girl and having a hunch this was the girl that truly owned that body.

"Kwandao. Kwandao Kawamura." she said meekly, dipping her head slightly as if bowing to him. "And i-"

'Terry' held up his hand, "Don't worry about it. Just tell me is that wench gone for good now."

A fresh tear slid down her face as she said, "Yes, yes, yes she is. She's gone! And I'm free…"

Terry wasn't in the mood to become the girl's hanky again so he congratulated her on being free and stepped away from her toward the exit doors. But he made a faint, almost imperceptible stutter in his step as his eyes once again changed from green to brown. The real Terry was once again in control and he dumbfoundedly looked around the hotel banquet room, the last memory he had coming back to him. Of trying to find it within him to end Re'-Sha but he couldn't and after that…this. He took note of the crystal Duel Disk in his hand, the announcer Sinclair repeatedly talking about him as Champion of Battle City and a girl that _looked_ like Re'-Sha but he knew was the girl Re'-Sha had been tormenting.

_I must've won_ he thought to himself, but felt a bitter, copper taste in his mouth. _And Shadi was right. When the time came down to it, I couldn't take the next step. I couldn't push myself to the next level and commit to it. To attacking Re'-Sha head on with Scorpio Dragon..._

Terry was surprised to push open the doors to find a out-of-breath Knowledge coming toward the doors. And like a telepath, he could guess what he was thinking as he slowed down and looked at him.

"It's over, Knowledge. Re'-Sha's gone." Terry spoke, looking down at the carpet even while Knowledge's face twisted into a smile.

"And you won!" he exclaimed.

Terry walked past him with a defeated look to him while he considered something. All during the time Re'-Sha had known him, she'd always called him 'pathetic'. And in the end, was he? If he never had that other side of him, he would have lost. It was his other side that won that duel, not him. And when he stepped in to help and try to finish what he and she had started, he couldn't do it. Pathetic is a good word for something like that. _Did Re'-Sha know me that well from the beginning?_

But to answer Knowledge, as he climbed the steps one at a time toward what was a new day, all he said was, "Not exactly."

THE END OF FUTURE HISTORY


End file.
